


Hysteria

by Janina



Series: Mrs. Robinson [6]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Anal, Anal Play, Angst, Backlash of their love affair, Benjen freaks out, Breakup, Dark!Jon, Dirty Talk, F/M, Jealousy, Joffrey has a canary, May/December Relationship, Mildly Dubious Consent, Minor Character Death, Murder, Oral Sex, Possessive Behavior, Rough Sex, Smut, Tags to be added, Violence, Whodunnit, mild stalking, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-11-03 13:12:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 101,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10967952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janina/pseuds/Janina
Summary: Jon and Sansa have some obstacles to face on their journey to being together. One is Jon's unwillingness to let Sansa go, and the lengths he'll go to protect her and what they have.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jeanettesc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeanettesc/gifts), [kittykatknits](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykatknits/gifts), [vivilove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivilove/gifts).



> We're getting into the meat of the story now, folks! Strap in!

The end of summer was upon them and Sansa had to face taking Benjen to White Harbor for school and getting him settled into the dormitory. 

Jon came with them, able to secure his boss’s truck in order to easily move Benjen’s things. Sansa sat in the backseat, her mind consumed with leaving her son in a different city and being so far away from him. Granted, it was only an hour but it might as well have been across the country for how she felt about it. 

She spent most of the ride reminiscing about when her son was a little boy, and trying not to cry. Jon glanced several times in the rear view, and she knew he was just checking on her. She would meet his gaze each time, give him a nod, and that was it. Today was not about them. It was about Benjen. 

Once they were at the college though, her thoughts took a turn. As they carried Benjen’s things up to his room, navigating around excited freshmen, she began to feel a twist in her gut. She remembered this time well; going off to school. She remembered how nervous and excited she’d been, how it felt as though a whole new world and new life was opening up. It had been terrifying and exhilarating and the absolute best time of her life. 

She remembered the parties, the pranks that went on in the dorms, the dramas among friends, the stress of classes, the all-nighters, and the scraping together of money at the end of the week just to get a pizza. 

Things for her had definitely taken a turn when she’d met Joffrey and then gotten pregnant with Benjen, but she remembered how exciting it had been when she’d first met Joffrey in one of her classes. How she looked forward to seeing him when they had class, and how she had slowly learned his schedule so that she could see him randomly on campus. 

She’d finished out her degree after Benjen was born, and she remembered feeling incredibly left out because while her friends were still out partying and enjoying their twenties, she’d been saddled with a husband who resented her and a baby she felt ill-equipped to care for. 

College was the first phase of learning so much about yourself. The next, for Sansa anyway, was your thirties. And now, on the cusp of forty, she knew she still had further to go. 

She wanted Benjen to enjoy the hell out of his college experience. She wanted him to embrace life fully and experience every high - even the lows. The lows taught you so much. They couldn’t be skimped on. 

This of course made her think of Jon. He wasn’t taking off for school. He would be commuting from home, but it was still the same. There were experiences to be had. People to see, to date, to have your heart broken over, and to learn from. 

Being with her, a woman of thirty-nine who was staring down the barrel of facing the end of something while he was on the cusp of something new felt…wrong. She felt as though she was robbing him of vital life experiences. Sure, having an affair with a “cougar” or a “MILF” was an experience as well, but to have a serious relationship with them? Would she just be living vicariously through him and reliving her youth as though she was desperately clinging to it? That would be how others would see her. How could they not? Even if it wasn’t true, because as much as she had enjoyed her college experience pre-Benjen, she had no desire to relive it. She was a woman grown with a house, a career, and a wonderful, sweet, compassionate, thoughtful, intelligent son. She couldn’t go backwards. And she didn’t want to. 

When it came time to leave, Sansa kept asking Benjen if he was sure he had everything. It was what Mom’s did. They worried. Benjen, preoccupied with the girls he’d seen pass by, and his roommate who was unpacking now, waved her off. 

It was Jon who stepped in at that point and said, “Benjen, your Mom is just looking out for you.”

That felt odd to Sansa. If she wasn’t fucking him she would have thought it was just her son’s friend sticking up for her. But because she was fucking him, and knowing what Jon wanted – to go public – it felt as though he was trying to….father Benjen. 

“It’s okay,” she said hastily. “He’s ready for his Mom to go now.”

She hugged her son quickly, mindful that he was ready for her to go, and she waited outside while Jon and Benjen said their own goodbyes. 

When he emerged, they silently walked down the busy hallway to the elevator. They filed in to the cramped elevator and then silently made their way to the car once they got off. Sansa buckled in and fought back tears as she stared at the brick façade of the dorm. 

“You okay?” Jon asked softly as he pulled out of the parking space. 

She nodded, but wouldn’t turn her head. 

“Sansa, baby, it’s okay if you want to cry.”

“I’m not crying!” she exclaimed, but tears streamed down her face. 

“There’re tissues in the glove compartment. I got some on the way to pick you and Benjen up. I figured you would need them.”

“Stop, just stop,” she wailed as she opened the glove compartment and dug out a packet of tissues. 

“Stop what, sweet girl?”

“Being good to me!”

He laughed. “Why would I do that? I love you.”

She wanted to tell him he didn’t. How could he? He was so young. How could he know what love was? She thought she did when she met Joffrey but she’d been wrong, so very wrong.

Did she even know what love was? She loved her son, she knew that love. That all-encompassing love for the child she had created, carried in her womb, and gave birth too. She had dated here and there before Jon, but she had never fallen in love. 

Then along came some hot eighteen-year-old boy with a gorgeous body and she acted like a bitch in heat. 

“Sansa, talk to me,” he said and reached out, caressing her shoulder. 

She wanted his comfort and at the same time, she didn’t. She rolled her shoulder, dislodging his hand. 

“Sansa,” he said warningly. 

“Just let me wallow about my baby boy being away from me right now, okay? Your Mom probably feels some level of that knowing you’re starting school.”

“I’m commuting.”

“But you’re starting a new phase of your life, Jon. Starting college is huge. This is where everything really begins.”

“You really think that?”

Sansa looked at him. “You don’t?”

“No, I think we have several beginnings in our lives. There isn’t just one.”

“But right now, at this moment in your life, things are never going to be as good as they are now. Never as easy. When you get to be my age and you have a mortgage and a career and a family to look after, you’ll look back to this time in your life and wish all you had to worry about was turning your paper in on time or whether or not you’ll make it for your eight o’ clock class.”

He seemed to consider this for a few, brow furrowed into thoughtfulness as they sped down the highway. “Okay, you may be right that my worries will be bigger when I’m older, but… it’s not like that’s all it will be. What about coming home to the person you love at the end of the day? Sharing your life with them? Sharing responsibilities? Talking in bed at the end of the day like we do sometimes. Making breakfast together. Going on vacations together.”

Was he talking about them? Why did she suddenly feel as though he was talking about them? 

“You’re the best thing there is at the end of my day and the beginning,” he said. 

He was talking about them in his little future scenario. He had to be. 

Did he think they were going to get _married_? She was forced into her last marriage, and had had no plans to get married that early prior to that debacle. She’d actually wanted to travel, as clichéd as that sounded. 

She had to put a stop to this now. Just not in the car while they were on their way home. 

“Sansa?” 

When he put a hand on her shoulder, she jumped. He frowned and glanced at her. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no, I’m just lost in my own thoughts right now,” she told him. 

“Why don’t you talk to me about your thoughts?” He grinned. “I hear that’s what people in relationships do. They talk about the things that are bothering them.”

She forced a small smile. “You’re right. They do. But I think I just need to process without the talking right now.”

“All right, love. Whatever you need.”

She could feel him waiting though. Waiting and wanting her to open up. The air felt thick with it. So, she leaned back and closed her eyes and feigned sleep until they got to her house.

He wanted to stay, that was evident from the way he leaned over to her in the truck and kissed her deeply. “I can return the truck and come back here,” he rasped. “I can spend the night?”

She bit her lip. It was tempting. Tempting because Benjen was gone and she would be alone in this house without him for the first time. Or at least for the first time knowing he was actually living somewhere else and that when he came home it would be for short bursts of time. 

She had to get used to it. She had an empty nest now. And falling into Jon’s arms was not the answer because this had to end. He needed to experience life, not spend his time with a near middle-aged woman who just might be going through an early midlife crisis. 

She was falling for him, but she had to stop now before she fell completely because honestly – what the fuck did she know about love? Her track record sucked. 

“I think you should go home tonight,” she said. 

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because I still need time to process,” she said. Yes, she was being a coward. But really, she was too exhausted to do this right now. Not after moving Benjen. 

He pursed his lips together and though it appeared he wanted to argue, he didn’t. “Okay,” he finally said. “Tomorrow night?”

“We’ll see,” she said and opened the truck door. Before she could slip out of the truck, Jon grabbed her arm, halting her. 

“We okay?” he asked. He looked partially worried and partially determined – as though if she told him that it was over right then and there he’d fight her on it. 

He was going to fight her on it anyway, no matter when she did end it. 

“We’re okay,” she said with a tremulous smile. “Thank you for your help today, I really appreciate it.”

He nodded, still studying her closely. “Of course. Benjen’s my best friend and I love you so…so of course I was going to be here.”

“Thanks just the same,” she said. 

He didn’t let her go right away and she laughed a little. “Jon, you have to let me go.”

“No,” he murmured, even as he released her arm. “I’ll never let you go.”

With her heart pounding in her chest, Sansa grabbed her purse off the truck floor, stepped carefully out of the truck, and after shutting the door, made her way to the house. She waved to him before letting herself inside and then she locked the door and pressed herself against it. 

How did she end things with Jon when he was so determined to keep her?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was made possible with the help of kittykatknits and Jeanettesc. You guys are the best, thank you so much for putting up with my needy ass! :) Lovely picset made by Jeanettesc!  
> [](http://imgur.com/r1kfClo)  
> [](http://imgur.com/c3r68qt)  
> [](http://imgur.com/zevhJ07)  
> [](http://imgur.com/H0kZjK4)

It was late, 4 am, and Jon couldn't sleep. He'd tried watching television. He'd tried reading. Hell, he'd even tried warm milk like his Mom used to give him when he was a kid and couldn't sleep. Nothing worked. He knew why too. Something was wrong. Jon could feel it in his bones. 

He sat at his desk in his bedroom, staring at the blank screen of his laptop and kept flipping his phone from one hand to the next. Sansa. Sansa. Sansa. That was all he was able to think about. Something was wrong with her, something that went beyond Benjen leaving for school and "Empty Nest Syndrome". He'd even googled Empty Nest Syndrome earlier so he could better understand where Sansa was coming from.

But that wasn't it. And it was nagging at him. 

He ran his fingers through his hair and then hunched over, burying his face in his hands. She wasn't thinking of breaking up with him, was she? She wasn't doing that thing where she thought it best to set him free because he was "so young" and "had his whole life ahead of him" and because there were "experiences to be had", right? Not after the summer they had. The perfect summer in which he was able to indulge in his sweet girl. 

Granted, it wasn't perfect. He wanted to go public still. And she hadn't told him she loved him back. But, he was trying to be patient with all that, and give Sansa some time to get used to their relationship. If they had a strong foundation then they could build upon that and she'd feel more comfortable going public. 

He wasn't stupid. He knew they'd be a tough sell. Benjen and his Mom came to mind as the ones that would probably give them the most crap for their relationship, but in time when they realized that this was real, that what he and Sansa had was real, they would accept it. They had to. They had no other choice. 

His Mom had always said he was older than his years. She'd called him an "old soul". Even in high school he preferred chatting with his teachers over his peers. They had more knowledge, more wisdom, and were more interesting. He liked to find old souls like himself when he did deign to hang out with someone his own age. Benjen was an old soul. And when he'd met Sansa, he'd understood. Beautiful, wise, and smart, Sansa was the complete package. The woman of his dreams. 

And he would not lose her, not to her fears, her doubts, her worries...he would obliterate all of them. He would convince her by loving her so much and so well she couldn't fathom being apart from him. He'd counter her arguments and show her that sure, they were unconventional, but that was no reason not to be together. Her age didn't matter to him - shit, it was part of the draw for him. She wasn't going to be insipid and vacuous like the other girls his age. She was a woman. All woman. _His_ woman. 

A glance at the clock told him it was four-thirty. She'd be getting up in a few hours for her morning jog and he supposed he could join her in that but he didn't want to wait. 

So, he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out. His mom could sleep through a bomb going off so she wouldn't hear his car starting up. 

Sansa's house was only a few blocks so it took him no time to get there. He parked a few houses down and walked down to her driveway.

When he got to the front, he reached up onto the small ledge created by the archway above and felt around for the key. Benjen had once forgot his key when Jon had come over after school, so that was how he learned where the spare was. Little did he know then how it would come in handy, though thanks to the janitor at the high school, he did know how to pick locks.

Holding his breath, Jon slipped the key in the lock and turned it. Pushing the door open gently, he breathed out slowly and listened. No sound except for the grandfather clock in the living room. 

Stepping inside, he slowly closed the door behind him. He waited again. Still no sound. 

He crept through the living room, passed the kitchen, and kept going down the hall. When he got to Sansa's door he was relieved to find it open. 

When he slipped inside and saw her on her back, softly snoring, he couldn’t help the tender, reverent smile that came. His heart felt as though it grew in his chest. He often felt like that in her presence, as though his body couldn't contain the organ inside. He felt like he could breathe easier too, and any worry and stress slid right off of him. 

His hands twitched at his sides; he wanted to go to her, touch her, and wake her up with kisses. This need he had for her threatened to overwhelm him at times. It was what drove him to do everything in his power to keep her with him. 

He took a step forward, intent on waking her, he stopped himself. In his haste to see her he didn't consider the fact that his having snuck in could scare her. 

So he stood there for a while and just watched her sleep, allowing her presence to soothe him, at least in part. He wanted to share that bed with her every night. He wanted to wake up next to her every morning. He wanted shared meals with her, he wanted laughing, crying, raging, and everything that spending your life with another person meant. 

Jon stayed well past the sun had begun to rise, and he knew he had to go. 

Already feeling the ache of separation, Jon slipped back out of her bedroom, crept down the hall, and then out the door. He put the key back and made his way back to the car. The tension was returning again as he sat there. The desire to go back and be with her again was strong but he knew he couldn't go back. He'd text her later and make sure they had plans for that night, or he'd find some way to come back and make her tell him what was really going on. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Jon texted her periodically all day. At the moment, before she headed into the grocery store she read over them. 

_Jon: We’re seeing each other later, right?  
Sansa: Yes_

_Jon: I miss you, baby.  
(No answer)_

_Jon: Tell me how your day is going.  
Sansa: Fine. Just busy._

_Jon: I just cut myself with some shears. Will you patch me up later?  
(No answer)_

_Jon: San, you’ve been quiet all day. Are you okay?  
Sansa: I’m fine, Jon. _

_Jon: I’m gonna head over right after I’m done, okay? I’ll shower there. Will you wash my back *grin*  
Sansa: (one hour after message) See you then. _

He knew. She knew he knew something was up with her. He would send her random texts throughout the day but not this often, and not with this kind of…desperation. 

She ached at the thought of ending things with him. She was going to break his heart. Hers was already breaking. But along with the fear of how deeply she’d hurt him, she also wondered if he would even accept it. Jon had been nothing if not determined to have her and nothing thus far had dissuaded him. What made her think this time would be any different? 

Now inside the grocery store, Sansa aimlessly pushed a cart to produce while considering how she was going to break up with him. 

“Mrs. Stark? Sansa?”

Sansa stopped and looked up and found herself looking right Jon’s Mom. Long hair the same color as Jon’s but with less curls – she must soften it – and the same gray eyes, Sansa felt a lurch in her belly. She had been fucking this woman’s son. This woman’s _young_ son. How would she feel if Benjen came home and tell her he’d met a woman twice his age and he was in love with her?

She’d flip out on him, that’s what she do. She’d go after the woman and demand she break up with her son. She’d wonder what kind of sick woman she was to date someone so fresh out of high school. And she’d wonder what the hell Benjen was snorting to think it was okay. 

She was a monster. 

“Hi, Lyanna,” Sansa said. “Nice to see you again.”

They’d met once, around the time Benjen and Jon were becoming friends. Well before she’d started fucking Jon. It had been quite brief, just a quick hello and shake of hands. 

“I was just talking with Jon the other day about Benjen going off to school and wondering how you’re dealing with it all,” Lyanna said, sympathy etched on her lovely face. 

That was yet another punch in her gut. She missed Benjen so much…

“I’m holding up, thank you,” she said with a slight smile. “They grow up so fast.”

Ugh. God. Could she be even grosser?

“Oh, I know!” Lyanna said with sad smile. “One minute Jon was clinging to my leg and hiding his face from strangers and the next he’s getting ready for college. I can hardly believe it.”

Getting ready for college, fucking an older woman…you know, whatever. “Exactly.”

“Well, if you ever get lonely, feel free to visit sometime,” Lyanna said. “Jon talked about you constantly.” She laughed a little. “I think he had a little crush on you.”

Sansa thought she just might throw up. “Imagine that,” she said with a little laugh. 

“Well, I’ll let you get back to shopping. I’m ready to check out.” She held up her red basket full of items. “Jon is hardly home these days so I don’t have to buy so much. Benjen being gone will cut back on your grocery bill so that’s one positive, right?”

Sansa forced herself to smile. “Right.”

Lyanna walked away and all Sansa could think was: Yup. It’s definitely over. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

It was clear by the sight of Jon when he appeared on her doorstep that he had literally just gotten off work. He was hot, sweaty, and dirty in a pair of brown shorts and white tank top. His hair was pulled back in a man bun, and tendrils of his hair clung to his forehead. 

Dressed in black pedal pushers and a modest top, Sansa stepped aside to let him in. No sooner had she shut the door than he had her pinned against it, kissing her deeply, almost frantically. His hands slipped under her top and she gripped his wrists, stopping him. 

“I’m dirty, I know,” he said with a grin. “But you don’t mind getting a little dirty too do you, sweet girl?”

Sansa bit her lip and turned her head to the side. 

“Sansa, you better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking.” Oh yeah. He knew. And he wasn’t pleased about it. 

When she looked up at him, his jaw was clenched tight and his gray eyes were like steel. “Jon—”

“What was it?” he asked. “Taking Benjen to school? Getting all nostalgic about college? Let me guess – you think if I stay with you I’ll be ruining the beginning of my life, or whatever the fuck you said yesterday.”

“Jon. Listen to me—”

“No,” he growled. “I’m not going to listen to you, Sansa. You want to end this and I’m not going to let you.”

She pushed at him, but he wouldn’t budge. “Jon! Don’t,” she said and pushed at him again. 

He moved maybe an inch away and she still had to practically push him over to get by him. 

“I saw your Mom at the grocery store today,” she told him, moving further into the living room. “You’ve no idea how guilty it made me feel to stand there and talk to her about how hard it was to watch your kid grow up knowing I’m fucking hers.”

“Goddammit, Sansa, don’t reduce what we have to just that!” he shouted at her. “I love you, and I know you love me too.”

She felt tears threatening to come, but she forced them back. If he saw any weakness, he’d find a way in. “Jon, you’re so young—”

He jabbed a finger in her direction. “Don’t. I am sick of fucking hearing how my age has anything to do with how I feel. I _love_ you, Sansa!”

“You’re in lust—”

“Oh, I’m in lust all right,” he growled and stormed towards her. Sansa lifted her arms to fend him off and he attempted to move then out of his way. 

“Jon stop,” Sansa said firmly and moved away from him. “This is over. It has to be. Trust me; you’ll thank me one day.”

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “No.” He rubbed his forehead and Sansa was surprised to find him trembling. “I don’t accept it. I told you I was never letting you go, Sansa, and I’m not. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”

“It’s over, Jon,” she said. “You have your whole life ahead of you. You have so much to explore, so much to learn about yourself. I’ve done all that.”

“So, you think it just stops? You think you don’t have anything left to explore? Anything left to learn about yourself?”

She sighed. “No, but I’m in a different phase of my life than you. There are different experiences to be had.”

“I don’t want to hear that word again. I am sick to death of hearing the word ‘experience’.” He glared at her. “I never took you for a coward.”

“And you’re being a bully. I’m done with this conversation, please let yourself out.”

She walked away from him, hoping he would go and somehow knowing that would be too easy….

When she heard him coming after her down the hall, she ran into her bedroom and slammed the door shut. 

It swung open, banging against the wall on the other side hard enough to cause a picture to fall to the hardwood floor. The glass in the frame smashed and she looked at it and then up at him, her mouth hanging open in shock. 

“This conversation isn’t over,” he said hoarsely. “And I’m not leaving until you take it all back.” He came over to her, dropped to his knees before her, and with tears in his eyes, wound his arms around her waist. He buried his face in her belly and began to cry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bury it  
** I won't let you bury it  
I won't let you smother it  
I won't let you murder it ~ Time is Running out by Muse 

Sansa felt at a loss of what to do with Jon sobbing against her stomach, his arms wrapped tight around her while he kneeled before her. She hadn't been prepared for tears. For anger, a refusal of acceptance, yes, but not _this_. "Jon," she said and pushed at his shoulders. He held on tighter. "Jon, just let me—" She managed to alert him to her plan when she started to bend her knees. He released her and let her kneel down before him. 

His face was wet, his eyes were reddening, and he looked absolutely miserable. She reached over to the tissue box on her nightstand and plucked a few tissues from the box. She handed them to him and he blew his nose rather loudly and then wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, smearing dirt across his face. 

"You just smeared dirt on your face," she said. 

"I don't care," he replied, sounded rather petulant. She lifted her hand to wipe the dirt away and he grabbed her wrist and kissed the inside of it. "Don't," he rasped. "I'll clean up later."

"Jon," she sighed. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"Then why are you?" 

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"Who said? You?"

"Jon, if Benjen came home and told me he had taken up with a forty-year-old woman—"

"You're thirty-nine. You won't be forty for another five months and ten days." She blinked. He smirked. "Don't tell me I'm only in lust with you," he told her. "Would someone in lust remember something like that?"

"The fact remains—"

"Would they, Sansa?" he demanded. 

She heaved an irritated sigh. "No."

"Thank you." He narrowed his eyes. "You were saying?"

"If Benjen told me he was with someone _nearly forty_ I would think she was a predator. Okay, I'm getting up, this is not comfortable." 

She rose to her feet and Jon rose with her.

"You think you're a predator?” he asked “I pursued you."

"No one will care, trust me,” she said, smoothing her top down. There was a damp spot where Jon had wept into her shirt and a little smidgeon of dirt, too. She looked up at him. “They'll only see your age and think there is something wrong with me. Like I'm having an early mid-life crisis." She shook her head. "Jesus Christ, Jon, you weren't even out of high school when I slept with you. That's wrong, don't you understand that?"

"I understand how it would look to the people on the outside," he said a bit condescendingly, "But we know the truth of what happened. It’s not like we have to tell them when we started having sex, Sansa. And I don't care what everyone else thinks. I care about _you_. I care about _us_. I care that you remain in my life. Everyone else can go fuck themselves." And now he sounded vehement. 

"Your mother won't accept us."

"She will in time."

"No, she won't. She's always going to love you, Jon, but she is going to _hate_ me. And I can’t blame her. I can’t blame her at all.”

"She's not part of our relationship, Sansa. Our relationship and what goes on is between you and me. All these people you're worried about? I don't give a shit about them and neither should you."

"I care very much about what Benjen thinks," she said softly. "He's my son, Jon. I have to take into consideration what he thinks and how he's going to feel."

That shut him up. Sighing, Sansa headed to the door, and of course Jon followed her. He followed behind her so close it was as if he thought she was going to make a run for it from her own house. She went to the kitchen. She needed a drink. Jon stood in the middle of it, watching her retrieve a wine glass and then the bottle of wine from the fridge. 

"I can talk to him," Jon said. "I'm his best friend. I can talk to him about it."

Sansa shook her head as she poured her wine. "I'm sure that would go over well. ‘Hey Benjen, I'm fucking your Mom. That's okay, right bro?'"

"I have never in my life said 'bro'," Jon said distastefully. 

Sansa laughed as she turned to face him, glass of wine in her hand. "Yes, because that's the thing to focus on!"

"Sansa, _you're_ the one that keeps reducing this to sex. You don't talk about our relationship in terms of an actual relationship but in terms of us fucking!"

"That's because that's all anyone else is going to care about!" she shouted back. "They're going to see a grown woman fucking a child!"

He held up a hand as if halting her, and then sighed, the muscles in his jaw working. "I’m going to ignore the child bit. Just listen to me, all right?” He didn’t wait for her to give the okay before he ploughed ahead. “You're so consumed with what everyone else is going to think about us. It's not something we can control, and we can't let what others think dictate our lives. They're going to think what they're going to think but at the end of the day all that matters is us. That we come home to each other."

"Home? Jon, you have a home, and it isn't here."

He looked hurt by that, and she felt like a shit for saying it even if it was true. 

"My home is with you," he said softly. "Even if I don't live here, you are still my home, Sansa. I want you all the time, it's true."

"Jon—"

"Let me finish," he said darkly, his eyes gleaming as he looked at her. 

She nodded and leaned against the counter, taking a sip of her wine. 

"As I said, I want you all the time. I crave you. I feel like I can't breathe right until I'm with you. You think it's all lust, but it's not. I love that you when we watch a horror movie, you cover your eyes and peer through your fingers to watch it. I love that you're kind to everyone and treat them with respect. Even your prick of an ex-husband. I love how passionate you get about politics. I love how you talk to your plants and call them your little babies. I love how you take care of me, and I like to think I take care of you too."

She nodded, feeling her own tears coming now. "You do."

"I can't be without you, Sansa,” he said, and he sounded lost. “I need you. So you have to figure something out, meet me halfway...something. Because I'm not giving you up."

Sansa took a long sip of her wine and then placed it down on the counter. What they needed was a breather. "You want to get a pizza?"

“Mind if I shower?”

This was an odd sort of breakup. Sansa nodded. “Sure.”

xxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, Sansa was on her bed, on her back and staring up at the ceiling feeling emotionally drained. Jon was sitting on the floor, his back against her bed near where she was lying down. He was showered and changed and showed absolutely no signs of going home. He was also showing no signs of giving up – he was still countering every argument she had. 

“You make it sound so easy,” she mumbled. She had a slight headache from the wine, from crying earlier, and from debating with Jon over the end of their relationship. 

He had stamina all right. And an answer for everything. 

It wasn’t that she was convinced that they could really give it a go, but more that right now she was exhausted. She wasn’t giving in, but she was tired of the debate. And she had a funny feeling Jon wasn’t going to leave. 

“I know it won’t be, Sansa,” he said, “but I just don’t think it’s as insurmountable as you have made it out to be.”

Sansa shut her eyes and rolled over. “I have a headache.”

Jon climbed to his feet and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll get you some water and ibuprofen.” He shuffled out of the room and Sansa watched him go in his black shorts and navy t-shirt. 

She shut her eyes and thought about life before Jon. It felt so far away. God, it felt as though he’d been part of her life forever. She recalled being bored with life but telling herself she was content. She thought back over the summer, all those stolen moments they had and how excited she’d get when he was coming over. Just even a text from him sent her aflame. No one had ever made her feel as desired and as cherished as Jon did.

Why was she trying to give him up again?

When she heard him shuffle back in the room, she popped open her eyes and then dragged herself to a sitting position. She took the proffered tall glass of water and three ibuprofen and looked at him as she sat down facing her on the bed. He rubbed the side of her leg at her knee and smiled at her. 

“What are you smiling about?” she asked after she’d down the water. 

“Your hair is a mess,” he said. “It’s adorable.”

She grunted a disapproval and attempted to tame it. Jon stopped her by grabbing her hand. “Sansa.”

She sighed and shut her eyes. After gathering her thoughts, she opened them and said, “I don’t want to debate with you anymore tonight.”

“So then we can put a pin in it for now and pick it up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? I think I need a week to rest after tonight.”

“Fine by me. As long as I get to see you throughout that week.”

“You are relentless.”

He slid closer to her, cupped the side of her face, and made her look at him. “I’m not giving up. I love you. I’m not walking away from that.” And then he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He was holding himself back, Sansa could tell that much. Jon never kissed her in such a restrained manner. She had to thank him for that though. At least he wasn’t trying to seduce her into seeing things his way. Just talk her to death. 

He broke the kiss and she could see the strain in him not to go for more. There was passion in his eyes, and he was breathing heavy. If she wasn’t mistaken, he also had a tent in his shorts. That was when she had the thought that perhaps she had more control over him than she ever realized. 

He pressed his forehead against hers. “Can I stay the night? Just to sleep.”

She thought she should say no. Or at least make him sleep on the couch. But she was weak. So, she nodded. 

He pulled back and kissed her. “Thank you.” He got up. “Be right back.”

He went to the bathroom and when he returned he was in his boxers. His t-shirt was still on. Sansa somehow managed to get up off the bed. She was exhausted. Bone deep kind of exhaustion. She used the bathroom and changed into her sleep shorts and tank top, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and emerged feeling a bit better. 

Jon was already in bed, on his back, using one arm as a pillow. He watched her come to the bed and climb in. Then he rolled onto his side and scooped her up against him. She stiffened and he kissed her shoulder. “Just sleep, I promise,” he said, his voice now thick with sleep. “I just want to hold you. I sleep better when you’re in my arms.”

She didn’t argue because truthfully, she slept better in his arms too. And besides, they were both exhausted, too exhausted to do anything at all. It was sleep. Just sleep. Jon rubbed his chin against her shoulder as he did every time he spent the night and they were like this. In no time flat, she was asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

When Sansa awoke, it was with a jolt. She hadn’t set the alarm! She bolted up in a bed and stared at the clock – it was almost eight and she had –

Oh. That’s right. She didn’t have to meet with her client until 11 am. The woman she would be meeting with to decorate her home didn’t “like to get up before nine.” She was the rich, snooty type that usually shelled out a good chunk of change to have their house done, but typically would end up driving Sansa crazy in the process. People like that typically had no concept of reality – you only have one car?! You’ve never had any work done?! Oh, I’m sure your Cape is just adorable. However, Sansa was really good at playing the game. She could smile and schmooze with the best of them while thinking, “Fuck you” in her head. 

“Come back to bed, love,” Jon’s raspy, thick with sleep voice said as he pulled on her arm.

“Jon, you have work!” she said, looking down at him curled up on his side and almost fully on her pillow. She remembered the few times she had woken up at random during the night Jon had been curled around her in the bed like a vine. A few times she’d had to kick off the covers because of the body heat he gave off. 

“No, I don’t. Yesterday was my last day,” he said and managed to pull her back down onto the bed. He curled back around her, his hand covering her belly and his chin rubbing against her shoulder. “I have books to buy and a student ID to get before school starts tomorrow.”

“How did I miss that?” she asked. 

“You were too busy trying to break up with me.”

“I did break up with you.”

“No, you didn’t. I didn’t accept.”

She sighed. 

“Can we sleep a little more? I’m tired.”

“I wonder why,” she said dryly. 

“Someone kept me up trying to argue with me about why we had to break up.”

“Jon,” she said and rolled over so that she was facing him. 

His eyes were closed and he had a small mischievous grin on his face. The little shit. 

“Jon,” she said again. 

He popped his eyes open and his eyes lit up at the sight of her. “No more sleep then, beautiful?”

She studied him, his riot of curls on the pillow, his eyes a bit puffy from crying, and at half mass from being tired still. And his shirt – it was now gone she noted. His beard needed a trim, but other than that he was gorgeous and perfect and… _young_. 

She was still tired too, but the sleep she did get must have cleared some cobwebs because a plan came to her. “How about this,” she began. 

He arched a brow as he unfurled his body and stretched. “This should be good.”

“You’re starting school tomorrow, which by the way thank you for reminding me because so is Benjen. So how about we make a plan.”

His gray eyes narrowed. “What kind of plan?” he asked slowly. 

“We…pump the brakes—”

“No,” he said resolutely. He was definitely awake now! 

“Listen to me,” she whined. 

“Start saying something I want to hear at this hour.”

“It’s nine!”

“We’re not breaking up, Sansa,” he told her. 

“Just _listen_. I’m not saying we break up.” He perked up at that. “I’m saying we just…cool things down.” He opened his mouth to interrupt and Sansa put her hand over his mouth to stop him. “For one month, you settle in at school. It takes time to get adjusted to classes and schoolwork, meeting new people, getting acclimated to campus and all that jazz.”

He licked her palm and she scowled at him. He grinned as she moved her hand off him. “Not a month. That’s too long.”

“Three weeks.”

“One. And by one I mean one day.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. And then he did too, his eyes crinkling at the sides and making him look even more boyish. 

“Two weeks,” she said. “Two weeks and – and we have dinner once a week. But no sex.”

His jaw clenched and he stared at her for a long while. His expression gave nothing away, only the clench of his jaw did. “All right, fine. Two weeks. And I can’t believe I’m going to agree to this, but no sex. If that means you’ll believe that it’s not all about that when we’re done, then I’ll do it.”

“But that means you actually have to try, Jon. You have to meet people. Talk to them. Hang out with them.”

“Sansa, Christ, I am capable of making friends. I do have them, you know!”

“Yes, but you spent most of your free time with me this summer.”

“Funny how that happens when you’re in love with someone…”

“Will you do this for me, Jon? For us?”

She knew she had him there. That power she realized she had over him…she didn’t want to use it, but if it meant he would at least, no pun intended, give this the old college try and see what was out there for him at school, she would use it. 

And if he met someone….she wouldn’t think about that. It’s what he should do after all, right? Meet someone closer to his age. Someone who could offer him so much more than she could. 

But God. It would kill her. It really would. 

“Fine,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. 

“Thank you,” she murmured and kissed his cheek. 

“No,” he growled. “What the fuck kind of kiss was that?” He leaned in and captured her lips with his as he pulled her on top of him. 

She broke the kiss and sat up, straddling him. She held out her hand. “We should shake on it. Make it official.”

He smirked. “We can shake on it by you letting me make love to you.”

“Jon,” she sighed, the long-suffering sigh of a woman whose paramour was absolutely impossible. 

“I agreed to your terms, Sansa. And it can start as soon as I leave this house.”

He shifted just so under her, letting her feel his hard cock. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t play fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war, sweetness.” He tugged at the hem of her tank top. “Take it off, San.”

She was weak. So very weak. Because she wanted him. She always wanted him. And the little shit knew it, too. 

A good-bye fuck. Why not? 

She whipped her tank top off and Jon yanked her down against him, his hands going to her breasts. He cupped them in his hands as he kissed her, his thumbs swiping back and forth on them, making her nipples hard. 

Then he flipped her over onto her back and she squealed in surprise. He lifted himself up slightly and grinned predatorily down at her, his curls hanging down on either side of her face. With a smile, she reached up and pushed his hair back from his face. 

He sucked in a breath and swore. 

“What?” she asked, her smile dropping. “What’s wrong?”

“That smile,” he said. “Your touch. You undo me with that smile. Now you want me to spend two weeks away from it?”

“Dinner once a week though. Chances are I’ll smile again. If you want though, I won’t. I’ll be as straight-faced and stoic as Robert Palmer’s all female fake backup band.”

He looked down at her, puzzled. “Who’s Robert Palmer?”

She playfully pushed at him. “That’s it. Get out. You don’t know who Robert Palmer is. Jesus, you weren’t even a fetus then.”

Jon laughed uproariously. “I know who Robert Palmer is, Sansa. ‘Addicted to Love’ is my jam.”

Now it was her turn to laugh. “Did you really just say ‘Addicted to Love is my _jam_ ’?”

He smiled. “Yup. Because I knew it would make you laugh. Now hush. I’m on important business.” He nuzzled at her neck.

Sansa held him to her, smiling. “Important business, huh?”

“I’m making love to my woman,” he said and then sucked at her neck. 

“Jon! No hickeys!” She tried to push him off, but he wouldn’t relent. She gave up and sighed. He looked smug when he lifted his head. “Something to warn the men off. You’re taken.”

Sansa ignored his comment and the thrill it gave her as she ran her hands over his chest. His belly visibly tensed and he shivered. She looked up at him in surprise. 

He shrugged and then moved down the bed, kicking covers out of the way. He busied himself with pulling down her shorts and then her panties. “Spread ‘em,’” he said huskily. 

Sansa bit her lip and spread her legs. Settling between them, Jon lifted one thigh over his shoulder and Sansa lifted her other leg over his other shoulder. He circled her clit with his tongue and then licked up her slit with the flat of it. He then flicked his tongue at her clit and Sansa gasped, “Jon.”

He gave her long licks up around her labia and up to her clit, dragging his tongue in a continuous loop. “Jon,” she said through grit teeth as she carded her fingers through his hair and grinded her cunt against his face. 

He sucked her clit in her mouth and she cried out. “Yes, like that, don’t stop!”

He didn’t. He kept going until she came and then he still kept going. Sansa pushed his head away and he used the inside of her thigh to wipe his beard. He rose up, looking like a man on a mission. He rolled over and hastily shucked off his boxers. He rolled back over to her and Sansa scooted back. He grabbed her leg, his brow furrowing, “Where are you going?” His voice was deep. And commanding. 

She looked at him innocently. “I want to suck your cock.”

His stomach clenched and he shut his eyes and whispered, “Fuck.” He looked at her. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

She smiled prettily as she got up on her knees. “Lay down,” she told him. 

He did, his cock pointing straight up and leaking precum. 

She moved so that she was diagonal along his body, which Jon used to rub one hand over her back and then down to her ass. 

“I want more,” he rasped. “Sit on my face. Sixty-nine me.”

Sansa sat back on her heels. She had…never done that. Her surprise must have been obvious for Jon grinned. “Good,” he said. “A first for both of us. Now get that pretty pink pussy on my face.”

“Nice alliteration,” Sansa murmured and he chuckled as she gingerly hauled herself over him. She wasn’t sure she liked this. She felt more…exposed. 

Jon had no such compulsion though. He stuck his face in her cunt without missing a beat. 

_Well, if you can’t beat ‘em_ …. she thought and took him in her mouth. 

“Fuck!” Jon shouted against her cunt. 

Feeling rather smug now herself, Sansa slurped and sucked on his cock, making his dick shine with her saliva. She swirled her tongue around the head of his cock and then sucked on the head. She moaned when he gently sucked on her clit and stopped what she was doing to jack him off with her hand while he got her closer and closer to cumming yet again. 

“My balls,” he panted. “Touch them.”

She cupped them in her hand while taking him down her throat again. And then she came and moaned with his cock in her mouth. 

Before she knew what happened, she was on her back and Jon was driving himself inside her. She gasped at the feel of him inside her. He looked feral as he pushed her legs back, his hands under her knees at the bend of her leg. He stared down at her so intently she had to look away. 

“Look at me,” he growled. “Don’t take your pretty blue eyes off of me.”

He knelt before her obscenely spread legs and dragged his dick out of her channel slowly. He kept just the head inside and then pushed back in just as slowly. Her pussy, still pulsing, caused Sansa to tighten around him. He hissed as he held himself inside her. 

He fucked her achingly slow like this, making her look at him, never allowing her to turn away. 

Then he pulled out and dug his hands into the bed on either side of her head and looked down at her, his pupils blown wide. “Put me inside you, Sansa,” he whispered. “Hurry. I need you – aaahhhhh! Fuck!”

He moved so that he was now braced up on his elbows by her head, his cock lodged deep inside her. 

“Jon, move,” she begged, pulling at him with her hands on his ass. “Please…”

“I love it when you beg. Usually I’m the one begging…”

He started to fuck her slowly again as he bent his head and kissed her deeply, complete with tongue. 

She dragged the tips of her fingers up his back just to drive him a little mad. It worked. He hissed and started moving faster and harder. The bed shook, the sound of skin slapping filled the room along with the wet sound of her cunt being fucked deeply by his cock. It was dirty and indecent and Sansa _loved_ it. 

From the angle of his hips, his dick kept rubbing up against her clit each time he thrust in. Now Sansa dug her nails into his back as she dug her head into the bed. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” she babbled and then let out a long low keen of bliss. 

“My sweet girl,” Jon muttered, his voice guttural, his forehead pressing against hers. “You’re squeezing me so tight, so fucking tight…Sansa, I love you, I love you, I love you… take it, Sansa, take my cum! Aahhhh!” He roared as he jerked inside her, cumming hard. 

He pressed down on top of her, panting into her ear. “Sansa, God, Sansa…” He moaned and moved his head, capturing her lips again, kissing her until she was breathless. He rolled them over, gathering her close in his embrace. “Two _weeks_?” he muttered. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Worn out again, Sansa, didn’t say a word. But she did wonder if she could move her appointment to a later time…


	5. Chapter 5

Jon had just finished taking a picture of his student ID and sending it to Sansa when he heard: "That's probably a good idea. In case you lose it or something."

Jon looked up from where he was leaning against a wall in one of the crowded academic buildings. People were zipping by, this way and that, and honestly, Jon felt a tad overwhelmed. 

The guy shifting from one foot to another before him had also been behind him in line to get his picture taken. He was on the short side, portly, and currently red-faced under his short light brown hair.

"Ah yeah, I was just sending this to my girlfriend," Jon said. Sansa was still his girlfriend and would remain that way despite what she'd said last night. 

Now his mind drifted to how amazing sex that morning had been and all he wanted to do was see her.

"Have you been to get your books?" the guy asked. 

Jon pushed away from the wall. "No, that was my next stop."

"M-mind i-if I tag along?"

Jon smiled. Sansa did want him to make friends, right? "Not at all." He held out his hand. "I'm Jon."

"Sam," the guy said and smiled back as he shook Jon's hand. His hand, Jon noted, was sweaty. Sam was definitely the shy, awkward type which explained why it took until now for him to speak to Jon. 

"You know the way?" Jon asked him.

Sam smiled, looking almost triumphant. "I do. Follow me."

xxxxxxxx

Sansa had to laugh when she saw the pictures Jon sent her: his student ID, his stack of books, and her personal favorite, a picture of him with some guy, the both of them grinning into the camera. The caption under the photo said: _See, I made a friend!_

He was being cheeky. Plus, he wasn't adhering exactly to the plan, though she hadn't said anything about no texting. She had thought it was implied that save for seeing each other once a week for dinner, there was to be no contact, but this was Jon. And she knew him well enough by now to know that if he saw an in, he would take it. If he studied law, he would be amazing at it. He would excel at writing up the fine print for companies. 

She jumped when her phone rang and then smiled when she saw it was her friend Jeyne Pool. "Hello!" she answered. 

"Where the fuck are you, I need a drink."

Sansa laughed. There was never much preamble with Jeyne, just straight to the point. Sansa had known Jeyne since high school, and they had always been tight. Also, Jeyne seemed to have quite the off again/on again thing with Sansa’s older brother, Robb. "I am sitting in my car on Red Keep Road.”

"Why are you sitting in your car on Red Keep Road? You moving to the ritzy side town or something?"

"No, I just got finished with a client."

"Ooooh...so you're going to get paid well."

"Considering she wants marble and granite just about anywhere she can have marble and granite, yes."

"Snooty?"

"Like you don't even know. I told her I didn't belong to the gym and you would have thought I told her I liked Trump."

Jeyne laughed. "Or that you shop at Old Navy. That's, like, launching a flaming turd at their doorstep.”

"Don’t give me any ideas.”

Jeyne laughed and Sansa giggled.

"So, what do you think?” Jeyne asked. “Drink? Dinner?

Considering she was looking at a night without Jon, dinner and drinks sounded lovely. "Yeah, let me get home and change first. See you in an hour at...?"

"Crossroads. And get a taxi or something. I sorta want to get a little shit-faced.”

"Something happen with Robb?” Sansa asked with a frown. She couldn’t even remember if they were on again. 

“Let’s just say he might get _my_ flaming turd flung at his doorstep.”

“Oooh, ok. I’ll see you soon then.”

“Hurry!”

Sansa hung up and then looked one last time at the picture Jon sent her. She missed him already. Her finger hovered the reply button, but she shook her head. Instead, she called her son to find out how he was doing and to wish him luck with his classes for the next day. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Jon checked his phone for what felt like the thousandth time since that afternoon. Still no message from Sansa. He'd thought the pictures he'd sent her would have at least generated and "LOL". She'd never said they couldn't text, and he certainly hoped she didn't think that there would be absolutely no communication at all. Because he wasn't okay with that. 

"Do you always have to have nose buried in that phone?" his mother grumbled. "We're watching a movie, Jon."

Jon looked over at her sheepishly. She was leaning against the armrest of the couch with her legs stretched out beside her. He was sitting on the overstuffed blue checkered chair in the corner. His favorite chair. It had a lamp right behind it, and it was in this chair he read and did his homework. 

Now he put his phone down on the armrest. She was right. When he'd gotten home that evening, his mother had asked him if he wanted to get a pizza and watch a movie together. He of course said yes, even though it was really grating on him that Sansa couldn't have been bothered to send just one simple text. 

He glanced at his phone. Screen was black now. His fingers itched to pick it up and send her another text.

"Who are you expecting a call or a text from?" His mother asked. Of course she caught him looking. He should put it away. Like, away from him, away. He'd hear it if Sansa texted. 

"No one really,” he replied. 

"Then watch the damn movie." She was teasing, but her tone held the slightest bit of warning. She hated it when he was constantly looking at his phone, and especially when they were spending time together. 

Jon looked at the TV, trying to focus but failing miserably. 

After the movie, he was going to pay Sansa a visit. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

“But, like, if he wants to be with me then it shouldn’t be this hard, right? It shouldn’t feel like work. Every time I think Robb and I are getting closer, he pulls away,” Jeyne said. Her words were slurred, her mascara was smeared under her eyes a bit from crying earlier. She was calmer now, but this was all Sansa had heard about for the past two hours. 

“I love my brother and all, Jeyne, but maybe you should cut him loose,” Sansa said. She giggled to herself. Every time she slurred a word she giggled. 

“I don’t know how, Sansa!” Jeyne exclaimed loud enough to be heard over the music. 

Crossroads was a bit of a dive, but it was the local watering hole and had been the place she and her friends had always gone to as soon as they’d all turned twenty-one. Some of the wait staff even knew them, and the owners definitely did. 

Sansa adjusted herself on the stool. Her ass was asleep. And she was tired. Did that mean she was old? No, she thought. It meant that Jon had kept her up late last night and had worn her out that morning with epic sex. 

She sighed as Jeyne went on about how much she loved Robb and glanced at her little black purse. Her phone was inside. Out of courtesy to Jeyne she hadn’t once pulled it out and she kept wondering if Jon had sent her anymore texts. 

“Are you listening to me?” Jeyne wailed. 

“I am, honey,” Sansa said gently. 

Jeyne looked near tears again. She wiped at her eyes, which just made the whole mascara smudged under her eyes worse. Her brown eyes could barely be seen anymore. Or Sansa was just getting hazy from the alcohol. Probably that because of course Jeyne still had eyes. 

Now her friend pushed the Pina Coloda she’d been drinking away and declared that she was done and ready to go home. 

Sansa, even in her own drunken state knew that to mean she wanted to go home and drunk call Robb. Who was she to judge? She sorta wanted to drunk call Jon. But she wouldn’t. 

Okay, she might. Possibly. She really really wanted to…

Jeyne darted away from the table and Sansa had no choice but to follow her, nearly falling off the stool in the process. She grabbed her purse and ran after her, thankful she’d gone with ballet flats for their night out…

xxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours. For two hours he’d tried texting and calling Sansa. Going into the house, Jon had discovered that she had strewn clothes across her red flowered comforter. So she had gone out, and she hadn’t taken her car. Where the fuck had she gone and with who?

The idea that she could be out with some asshole in another attempt to avoid acknowledging what she had with him drove Jon mad. 

Is that why she’d never texted back?

She’d wanted him to have the college experience but she’d never said anything about having some experiences of her own. 

Outside now, since he didn’t want her to know he knew how to get inside her house without her there, Jon paced in front of the stairs leading up to the house. He felt like a caged animal. His skin felt hot and tight. He felt like he wanted to scream. He was getting fucking ready to. 

And then taxi screeched to a halt in front of the house. Jon stopped. Waited. Sansa climbed out, looking a bit wobbly and leaned in through the passenger side door to pay. She straightened and turned, and the taxi sped off. 

Sansa started to make her way to the house. 

“Sansa,” Jon growled. 

She stopped and looked up at him, eyes wide. “Jon?”

“Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded as he strode over to her. 

She reached out and poked him in the chest. “You’re really here,” she breathed. 

“Where were you, Sansa?” he asked again, softer this time. It was clear she was drunk and thought him to be a bit of a mirage. Did that mean she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her?

“Why are you _hhhhere_?” she asked. “Has it even been twelve hours?”

Jon shut his eyes and sighed. He opened them again and said sotto voce, “Where have you been, Sansa?”

She blinked. “Jeyne. My friend Jeyne. She wanted to go out. That okay, warden?”

He sighed. “I have been texting you…I was worried about you!”

“I’m an adult,” she said, sticking her chin out. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I love you, Sansa. Of course I’m going to worry.”

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“You wouldn’t answer my texts.”

“No contact except for that dinner I promised you, remember?”

He shook his head. “No, San, we never said no text messages. We never said no phone calls. We just said we wouldn’t see each other.”

She started to laugh. “I knew it! I knew you’d find the first loophole you could!”

He smirked. Of course he would. 

“Jon, what did you think?” she asked. “That I went out on a date?”

He nodded and felt the threat of tears. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. He pressed his cheek against hers and rocked her in his arms. “Sweetheart, I don’t like being cut off from you completely. I lost my mind.”

“I don’t want to date anyone,” she told him softly. “I wouldn’t do that to you without telling you.”

“Don’t do it at all,” he rasped and began pressing kisses to her cheek, her jaw, and then, framing her face in his hands, her mouth. She tasted like alcohol and something sweet. 

“You’re making me dizzy,” she murmured, breaking the kiss. 

Chasing her lips with his own, Jon claimed her mouth again, kissing her deeper. He needed this. Needed her. 

“Jon, no,” she muttered, pushing him away. 

And then she threw up in the grass. 

Jon sighed. Okay. She needed to sleep this off. 

“You might want to go,” Sansa said wiping her mouth. 

“No, I’m going to help you inside and tuck you into bed.”

“I told you I’m an adult,” she muttered even as she allowed him to push her forward with his hand at the small of her back. He grabbed her purse and got out of her keys. He handed her purse back to her and unlocked the door. He pushed her inside and shut the door behind him and locked it. 

She kept saying she didn’t need the help, but Jon helped her undress just the same. In her inebriated state she’d had some difficulty taking her top off. He got her in her pajamas, and while she used the bathroom, he got her a glass of water and three ibuprofen. 

He waited for her, sitting on her bed, the water and ibuprofen in his hand. When she emerged from the bathroom, her face was scrubbed clean, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He got closer to her and could smell a hint of toothpaste. Wordlessly, he handed her the ibuprofen and water. She downed both and then he maneuvered her into bed and tucked her in just as he said he would. He sat beside her, facing her, on the bed and caressed the side of her face. She leaned her face into his and hummed with her eyes shut. 

Jon smiled gently, thinking he loved her so much he couldn’t stand it. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he said. 

She nodded, clutched at his hand, and then kissed his knuckles. “I am glad to see you,” she murmured. 

He wanted to say, yeah, because you love me, stubborn woman. But he didn’t. Instead, he sat there just watching her sleep for a long while. He figured this time he had permission to do so, so why not?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, kittykatknits and Jeanettesc for helping me with this!

“Sansa, sweetheart…San…”

Sansa jerked awake, her eyes popping open. Jon stood over her and she blinked up at him as her mind raced to connect the dots. Out with Jeyne, Jon was at her house waiting for her, she threw up, he put her to bed –

“Did you stay the night?” she asked. 

“I did, but I have to go now.” He frowned and ran his fingertips along the side of her face. “How do you feel?”

But Sansa wasn’t past his having slept over. “Where did you sleep?”

“Where do you think I slept? With you.”

She remembered none of that. 

“It was late and I was tired,” he explained and she wondered if her confusion had showed on her face. “I need to get home and get ready for class. I wanted to know when I could come over tonight so we can talk.”

Did she have the energy to deal with this? No, but she was going to try anyway. “Jon, no,” she said as she rolled onto her back and then sat up. “You’re not coming over tonight. You weren’t supposed to come over _last_ night. You broke the rules. Rules you agreed to.”

His eyes hardened. His whole expression did. “Sansa, we never agreed to not text. That was not part of the agreement.”

“How can you expect to get settled in at school and do what I asked of you if you keep busying yourself with what I’m doing? The whole point was for you to spend time away from me. That includes texting.”

He shook his head. “No. I’m not cutting off communication entirely. I would have never agreed to that.”

Sansa was thirsty and her head hurt, and the last thing she wanted to do was deal with was a stubborn Jon. 

Part of her thought maybe she could just make a concession and agree to a limited number of texts, and part of her thought she needed to stay firm on this because he couldn’t keep angling for those loopholes. 

And a larger part of her just wanted to go back to sleep. 

“Three,” she said finally. Concessions it was. “You get three a day.”

“Three? That’s it?”

She nodded. “Take it or leave it.”

“Goddammit, Sansa,” he muttered. 

“Jon, you didn’t even last twelve hours!”

“Because I didn’t hear from you all day and I was going out of my fucking mind!”

She pointed at him. “You knew that texting was part of it, but you were looking for any in you could find, don’t deny it.”

“I don’t want to fight,” he said and his tone made her think he was trying hard to keep his temper. “But I honestly did not think that texting wasn’t allowed.”

She lifted her hand and swept it in front of her in an arc. “The more you know…”

“I don’t fucking like this, Sansa,” he snapped. 

“You have to try. You promised you would. For _me._ Remember?”

He raked a hand through his hair. He was a ball of frustrated energy; she could feel it wafting off of him. He was practically vibrating with it. 

“You were happy to see me last night,” he said. “You said so yourself. You missed me, too.”

“I will miss you,” she said gently. “Do you think that I won’t?”

“What if you meet someone?” he asked, his voice cracking. “What if you decide to try with someone else again?”

“You could meet someone too, you know.”

He shook his head. “I only want you,” he said hoarsely. 

“You could change your mind if the right woman comes along.”

“Stop, Sansa! Just stop it.” He dropped down on the bed and plunged his fingers into her hair and drew her face close to his as he leaned forward into her space. “I don’t want to think about dating anyone else. How many times do I have to tell you that?” 

“Jon—”

His hands gripped her hair just a little tighter. “Do you see me, Sansa? Look at me. Do you see me?”

She blinked. What was he getting at? “Yes, I see you.”

“Do you? Do you really? If you did you’d see that I belong to you. That I’m yours. Have I ever given you any reason to think that I don’t love you? That I don’t want you? That I’m not devoted wholly to you?”

Sansa gripped his wrists. “Jon, _stop_.”

“No, Sansa, you’re not seeing me. You’re not seeing _me, Jon_ , you’re just seeing some fucking kid you’re trying to mother.”

She reared back, and pulled his hands from her face. “I know that you’re not my son.”

“Then what am I? Your dirty secret? Your boy toy? Your play thing? _What I am to you_?”

Annoyed now, and a little…unsettled by his intensity, Sansa pushed the covers off of her and started to crawl to the other side of the bed in order to climb out of it. Jon reached for her ankle and she kicked at him to fend him off. 

“Goddammit, Sansa,” he growled and tried to grab for her. 

Finally, Sansa managed to get off the bed and she looked down at Jon who was halfway across the bed trying to reach her. “Stop it right now!” she said loudly; firmly. 

Jon stopped and looked up at her. 

“What are you doing?” she whispered. “You’re acting like a madman.”

“You made me this way,” he said, his voice low and harsh as he moved off the bed and stood at the other side of it, facing her. “I’m tired of this. I can’t keep having you push me away like this.”

“Then it’s over.”

He looked as though she’d just slapped him. His eyes went wide. His nostrils flared. He shook his head. “No, no I won’t do that. And I won’t let you end it.”

Sansa glanced at the clock. “You need to get home and get ready for class.”

“Fuck class!” he shouted. 

“Am I interrupting something?”

Sansa jerked her head to the door and felt her stomach drop to the floor. “Jeyne,” she said at the sight of her best friend. “What—what are you doing here?”

Jeyne looked from Sansa to Jon who still looked ready to blow. “Seriously,” Jeyne said. “Am I interrupting something? Do I need to call someone…the cops, maybe?”

Sansa shook her head. “Jon was just leaving.”

Jon threw her a glare and stalked toward the door. He looked like a charging bull and Jeyne leapt further inside Sansa’s bedroom to get out of his way. He stopped at the door, turned to Jeyne, and held out his hands. “I’m Jon. I’m Sansa’s boyfriend even though she won’t fucking accept it. I’m eighteen years old and I start college today. I’ve been fucking her all summer.”

“Get out,” Sansa snapped. “Get out, Jon.”

Jon turned and faced her, eyes flashing. He pointed at her. “This isn’t over.”

“Don’t come back, because I’m not going to let you in.”

With his jaw clenched, and his gray eyes like steel, Jon stormed out. Sansa jumped when she heard the front door slam. 

Jeyne looked at her friend, brows raised. “So, I woke up needing a big greasy breakfast and figured you did too.”

Sansa nodded, near tears. Jeyne now knew. Jon was pissed. She was so angry and disappointed in him…

“You wanna get some food and tell me what the hell is going on?” Jeyne asked. 

Sansa nodded. “Just let me shower first.”

xxxxxxxxxx

“Oh my God, Sansa,” Jeyne said once Sansa was done telling her about Jon over breakfast. 

They were tucked into the corner of the Winterfell Diner, surrounded by people having leisurely breakfasts, or trying to cram in a quick one before work. The sound of eighties pop music, silverware clacking, and people in conversation buzzed all around them. The scent of breakfast was thick in the air as Sansa mopped up a glob of maple syrup with her forkful of pancakes. Comfort food. She needed comfort food. 

“You’re disgusted with me, aren’t you?” Sansa said, bracing herself for harsh judgment. 

“No, I’m fucking jealous is what I am!”

Sansa’s head popped up and she gaped at her friend. “What?”

“Sansa, you’re fucking a hot eighteen-year-old boy with a body that won’t quit.” Jeyne smirked. “Where can I get one?”

“Jeyne, he’s eighteen,” Sansa hissed, leaning forward, pancakes forgotten in her hand. 

“He’s legal, Sansa.”

“He’s just out of high school. I was fucking him before he even graduated!”

Jeyne frowned. “Okay, so that part is a little…yeah. But, I mean, he’s in college now! Who cares?”

“I care. What would his mother think? If it was Benjen…”

“Okay, you’re kind of killing my excitement for you here.”

“I’m bringing you back down to Earth.”

Jeyne rolled her eyes. “I live there, remember? I need a fantasy or a two hundred to make it through reality.” She sipped her coffee and Sansa put her fork down to sip her OJ. “All right, so you’ve implemented this two week thing where you take a break?”

“Yes,” Sansa said. “I want him to get acclimated to school.”

“In two weeks.”

“I tried for a month, he finagled me down to two weeks. Jon is very…persistent. And determined. And very passionate and—”

“Oh to be young and in love again,” Jeyne said wistfully. 

“You’re not helping.”

“I’m sorry. Do you…you know…have feelings for him?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“You do!”

“What I feel is irrelevant.”

Jeyne gaped at her. “How?!”

“I’m a whole person who can drink older than him. What does he know about love? About life even?”

“That’s not entirely fair.”

“He was there when I got home last night,” Sansa said. “He was all freaked out because he hadn’t realized texting was off the table in our arrangement and was worried when he didn’t get a text back from me yesterday. He put me to bed – no, we did not have sex so stop looking excited – and he was there when I got up this morning.”

“Rules are meant to be broken?”

“Jeyne, please,” Sansa pleaded, rubbing her forehead. 

Jeyne sighed. “Okay, serious now. The argument this morning was over texts?”

“That and not wanting this separation. I agreed to a date night once a week and now I’ve agreed to three texts, but he gets so…intense. He is stubborn as fuck when it comes to putting any kind of space between us. He wants to go public – Jeyne, he made it sound once like he wanted to marry me.”

Jeyne frowned. “Okay yeah, that’s too soon.”

“Thank you!”

“But that’s part of his age I think. All those hormones and all that passion. Plus, all that regular sex. I think he is in love, Sansa. And I think because you’re his first love it just adds to the intensity and the passion.”

“How do I know that he’s not going to meet someone? He’s in college. You’re supposed to meet people and have tons of sex in college.”

“Like you did?” Jeyne asked with an arched brow. 

Sansa shot her a look. “Shut up.”

“Sansa, you weren’t exactly fucking around in college the way you seem to expect Jon to. You got serious with Joffrey pretty fast.”

“Yeah, and look how that turned out. Benjen was the only good thing to come from it.”

Jeyne studied her with narrowed eyes which made Sansa squirm in her seat a bit. She didn’t like being scrutinized like that. 

“Are you afraid of things going south with Jon? Are you afraid of him doing what Joffrey did to you?”

“Which part? The part where he hit me, or the part where he cheated on me?”

“Jon sounds like he’s pretty devoted to you, Sansa. Very unlike Joffrey whom I never trusted.”

“I remember you telling me that after I married him,” Sansa said with a trace of bitterness in her voice. 

“You were crazy about him. Not the situation you were in, but him. Not every guy is going to be a dick like him, Sansa. Don’t be afraid to let yourself be happy.”

“But with an eighteen-year-old?”

“You can’t control who you love,” Jeyne said. “However, he does sound like he needs to calm the fuck down.”

“He does.”

“But it also sounds like maybe once you figure out what you want then he will.”

Sansa tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. She groaned and looked back at her friend. “You’re killing me.”

Jeyne laughed. “Listen, this is what I know – from what you’ve told me of Jon he’s a hot young thing that is excellent in the sack, but he’s really intense and doesn’t like to take no for an answer. You can train him.”

“I don’t think he’s trainable.”

“All men are,” Jeyne said. 

“Even Robb?”

“Except for him. All men are that are Jon’s age, how about that? So, you need to figure out what it is that you want – him for a long-term relationship and all that comes with that because yes, it will be a shit storm if or when it goes public, or if you want to end it. You need this break just as much as he does it sounds like.”

Sansa sighed. “What would you do?”

Jeyne’s smile was wistful. “What wouldn’t I do for love?”


	7. Chapter 7

This was not Jon's day. After leaving Sansa's partly in a rage and partly feeling like his heart was bleeding out (though he suspected that's where the rage came from), he'd gone home to shower and change and had gotten yelled at by his mother. His Mom, who didn't know where he'd been all night, and was waiting for him to show up that morning because she wanted to see him on his first day of college. 

"All summer you've taken off and not told me where you're going," his mother said while he gathered his books together after his shower. "I didn't ask because I figured you're an adult and you've always been a smart and responsible kid so I don't need to pry and I don't need to worry. But I'm worried now, Jon."

"Mom," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You don't need to worry. I'm fine."

"Are you on drugs?" she asked worriedly, looking at him searchingly as though maybe she could find traces of addiction. She was a nurse; she probably could. 

"No, I'm not on drugs," he said with a laugh. "I'm...there's a woman."

His mother smirked. "A woman, huh? So you are on drugs."

He laughed. 

"Who is she? Can I meet her? Why haven't you told me about her yet?" 

"Because it was still fresh and new and..." Shit. He wasn't going to lose it now. He didn't have time. _And it might be over now because I'm pretty sure I scared her and pissed her off._

"And?"

"And we just had a fight," he said, his voice cracking. 

"Oh, my poor boy, come here," Lyanna cooed and drew him down into her arms. "What can I do?"

"Nothing right now. I have to get to class, remember?" he said against her shoulder, his words muffled. 

"Tonight we'll have dinner, yeah? You'll tell me about it?"

"You have to work."

"Dammit, you're right. I'll see if I can switch—"

"Mom, no," Jon pulled back and looked down at her. "I'll be all right. We've just hit a rough patch is all."

"I want to hear all about her, Jon. I want to know about the _woman_ who captured your heart."

"And I'll tell you about her. Maybe when don’t feel like I’m going to lose my shit if I talk about her.” 

Lyanna hugged him again, looking sad and Jon shut his eyes as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Sometimes, you just needed your Mom. 

He needed her later too, when, trying to find a parking spot, he'd gotten into a minor fender bender in a parking lot with a redhead who stormed out of her car and started screaming at him. Jon had just sat there, staring at her, annoyed, and wanting to flip her off. Then her friend or girlfriend got out of the car and calmed her down. 

An hour later, he was in the commuter cafe with Sam, and his two new fender bender friends: Ygritte and her girlfriend, as in they were lesbians, Val. He excused himself from their company and went to call Sansa outside. She didn't answer. So he called again. And again. Then he sent her texts:

_I'm sorry. I was an asshole. I lost my head and I'm sorry._

_I love you, Sansa. Please don’t end things. I need you._

_I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll stick to three texts a day and I won’t come by the house. Please answer me, baby. Please tell me you haven’t given up on me._

He started to pace, shaking, and trying like hell to calm the fuck down. But until he heard from her, until he knew that she hadn’t given up on him, he would be able to calm down. He wouldn’t be able to rest. He stopped, pressing his fist against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. “Arrrggghhhh….”

“Insurance company giving you a hard time?”

Jon turned, dropping his fist and opening his eyes, and found Ygritte lighting up a cigarette. He shook his head and glanced down at his phone. Still nothing. 

“Girlfriend?” Ygritte asked. 

Jon nodded, his eyes not once leaving the screen. 

“Trouble in paradise?”

Jon didn’t know how to tell her he wasn’t really in the mood for talking. He just wanted to obsess silently about Sansa not returning his texts. He kept hearing her in his head telling him to get out and every single time it felt as though he was bleeding out. 

“Who is she?” Ygritte asked. 

God, she was persistent. He looked up at her finally. “The most infuriating and stubborn woman on the planet.”

Ygritte laughed. “Thank God you said that and not some shit like ‘an angel’.” She said ‘an angel’ in a high pitched breathy voice, clearly mocking anyone who would say such a thing. 

Jon smirked. “Well, actually—”

She pointed at him, her blue eyes shining with mirth. “Don’t even,” she said warningly. 

He laughed and looked back down at his phone. “She’s gotten right under my skin,” he murmured. “Just burrowed right in and nestled there.”

“Damn, you have it bad.”

He nodded, thinking if he didn’t hear from her soon he was going to scream his fucking head off. And then the messages came through. 

_Three messages a day and no stopping by. That’s what I want._

_We’ll talk more when I see you next Thursday for dinner._

_I hope your first day is going well._

Next _Thursday_? That wasn’t a week. That was a week and a _day_. 

His fingers hovered over the buttons. To point that out or not to point that out. No. He couldn’t push his luck. He read her texts again and again until the screen went black.

“Fucking hell, man. Look at you. You look like a man on the edge. I’ve seen drug addicts look as manic as you when going through withdrawals.” She blew smoke out of her mouth and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you guys on the verge of breaking up or something?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Almost? Maybe?”

She rolled her eyes just as Val and Sam came out of the double doors. Val came up to Ygritte and plucked the cigarette from her hand and took a drag. “What’s going on?” she asked. 

“Our baby-faced boy here was just about to tell me about his girl,” Ygritte said. 

“Was I?” Jon asked with a laugh. 

“Yeah, I gotta know about this girl that’s got you all tied up in knots.”

Val grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. She tossed her half-dreaded blond hair over her shoulder. “Oh yes, please. Do tell.”

So Jon did. 

When he was done, Sam looked a bit perplexed, Ygritte laughed softly, and Val appeared a little shocked. 

“I think you gotta back off, man,” Val finally said. 

“She’s thirty-nine?” Sam asked. 

“You sure you want all that baggage?” Ygritte asked. 

“There is no baggage,” Jon snapped. 

“Ex-husband? Son?” Ygritte said. 

“Benjen is my best friend,” Jon said. “I know it’ll be hard to accept at first, but he’ll come around. As for the ex-husband…well, he’s remarried and a dick. He might give us shit, but it’s not like he can do anything to her. Benjen’s eighteen, it’s not like he can sue for custody.”

Val and Ygritte exchanged looks. Sam looked thoughtful. 

“What?” Jon asked, his temper flaring. 

“If her ex-husband is a dick, he’s going to be a dick about her fucking you,” Val said bluntly. “As for your friend and her son? Well, you’re going to be out a friend, I’m afraid. All he’s going to be able to think about is you sharing his mother’s bed. He’s going to feel betrayed and he’s not only going to take it out on you, but on her too.”

Jon felt his body go slack, as though a great weight was pressing down on him. He shook his head. 

“Yes, Jon,” Val said. “Did you really think you could just talk to him about it and it would be okay?”

He really had. Hadn’t Sansa warned him otherwise already? It was just hearing it from someone outside their relationship scared him a little. 

Sam glanced at Val and Ygritte and frowned. He looked back at Jon. “I mean, that’s not to say these obstacles aren't insurmountable. But I do think that if you want to be with this woman you should be prepared for the push back you’ll both get.”

“She might be deciding it’s not worth it to deal with,” Ygritte drawled. 

Jon lost his breath. “Don’t say that.”

“You’re gonna have to man up,” Val said. “If you can’t handle two weeks, how are you going to handle the shit storm from her family, her son, her ex-husband and possibly her friends? Stop acting like a boy and be the man she needs.”

“That is, if you want to keep her,” Ygritte added. “She’s not wrong, you know, wanting you to see what else is out there. It’s a big wide world, Jon. There’s more to it than a thirty-nine year old who has already been married and had a kid.”

All the things he wanted to do in life, he wanted to do them with Sansa right there with him. 

“You can’t even support her,” Ygritte said.

“Well, she has money,” Val pointed out. “She could take care of him until he graduated.”

“And if he went for his Masters? She’ll be over forty-five by then.”

“So?” Val said. “It’s not like he has to be the breadwinner. Stop thinking like that. She can be the breadwinner.”

“And he’s the what? The young mooch that lives off of her?”

“Shut up,” Jon said, his tone low but commanding. 

Ygritte lit up another cigarette and watched him, expressionless. Val looked a bit sad, and Sam, Sam was back to looking perplexed. 

Now Jon had a new set of worries. Worries that Sansa had already had and expressed and he’d ignored. Because…because he’d been arrogant thinking he knew it all and that he could just take care of everything. Benjen? No problem. Benjen would surely listen to him, right? And Joffrey – well he was a prick anyway, but he had no leg to stand on considering all he’d done to Sansa. But it wasn’t like Joffrey would take the high road. 

And what of her family? What would they think? 

Fuck. Sansa had also warned him about his mother. 

“Second thoughts?” Ygritte asked him with a smirk.

Jon shook his head. Second thoughts about being with Sansa? No. Just second thoughts about how he’d handle it all. He couldn’t be an arrogant prick about it. He had to take this seriously. He had to handle it with care because she had a lot on her plate and didn’t need him being a bull in a fucking china shop with her worries. Being with her meant that her worries were his. And he would do that for her, take it all on, slay any beast, protect her, guard her, love her and cherish her and do whatever it took to make her happy. 

“What do you think you’ll do, Jon?” Sam asked. 

Jon looked over at his friend. “Well, I guess I’m gonna man up.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always many thanks to kittykatknits, Jeanettesc, and also for this particular chapter, AlphaTexan for the great ideas! :)

**Day 2**

_I love you, baby. I miss you. How are you doing?_

Sansa smiled as she read the text from Jon as she settled in on her couch with her laptop on her lap, and Pandora on the TV in the background. She sipped her wine, placed it on the end table next to her and composed her reply : _I am well, thank you. And I miss you too. How are classes going?_

Jon: _They're good. Turns out I think I might like philosophy. Never thought it was my thing. Have you talked to Benjen? I did today. Sounds like he's doing good._

Sansa: _I did earlier, and I'm sure he's told you more than he's told me! He's happy?_

Jon: _He is. He's making friends, thinking about joining clubs. So am I. Making friends that is. Aren't you proud of me? This is my third text..._

Sansa: _I'm proud of you, Jon. I really am. This is the best time of your life, I promise._

Now she felt like crying. She missed him. She really did. And she kept thinking - what if I lost him? What if he did meet someone? Could I handle it? But then she thought of the possibility of him growing tired of her, of her committing to him only to find that someone else had turned his head. 

Her phone rang then, jarring her out of her thoughts. It couldn't be... no, it was Jeyne. 

"Hello," she answered. "What's up?"

"Have you checked your email?"

"I was just about to."

"I sent you some links about Aaron Tayler-Johnson and his wife. She's twenty-four years older than him and they have kids. Kid? I can't remember, but San, she's older than him and they are married."

"Cut to a year from now when it comes out he's been cheating on her with younger girls."

"Not everyone is Ashton Kutcher. Did you pull it up yet?"

Sansa laughed. "God, give me a minute. I was just finishing a text to Jon when you called."

"And how is the boy?"

"He misses me."

"Of course he does. You're an amazing woman, Sansa. I don't think you realize just how much you deserve to have love in your life. And from someone who is crazy about you."

"You're going to make me cry, stop!" 

"That's because," Jeyne said, "You miss him, too. And I think you want to give in."

"I'm hanging up now so I can read your email."

"Stubborn bitch."

"Jeyne, you ignorant slut."

They both laughed, said their goodbyes, and Sansa hung up. She read the links Jeyne sent her about Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife, and then went on to Google "dating younger men". 

**Day 3**

Jon: _How's my sweet girl? I have a group project already in my Global Studies class. This girl in my group assigned herself as the leader and is organizing everything for us to do already. For some reason, she reminded me of you._

Sansa: _She's just being proactive! I always hated group projects because no one wanted to do the work and I ended up doing it all._

Jon: _Probably because they knew you would do it all, sweetheart. God, I miss you. Can I tell you that I jerked off thinking about you this morning in the shower? I think about you in class. I think about you on my way to school. I think about you before I go to bed at night. You're all I think about, Sansa._

Sansa: _I thought about you last night when I touched myself *smirk* I miss you too. I really really do. I hope you know that._

Jon: _It helps to know I'm not alone, but I'm aching, Sansa. I'm aching for you right now. I feel like my heart is going to leap out of my chest. I feel like I can't breathe without you. I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad or to get you to cave and see me. I'm just telling you how I feel. Do you understand that? Do you want me to stop?_

Sansa: _No, you don't have to stop. I feel the same way. I don't know what to say...what I feel is probably best said in person. Just five more days._

Jon rubbed a hand down his face at the last bit and felt simultaneously buoyed by hope and the overwhelming desire to see her. To hear the words she wanted to say to him. He wasn't lying when he said he was aching for her. He was. Not seeing her and hearing her sweet voice made him feel as though he was slowly losing his mind. But if this was working, if this was getting her closer to admitting she loved him... 

_Be a man_ , he told himself. _You can't break the rules._

But...maybe he could bend them. 

**Day 4**

Sansa placed a frozen pizza in her grocery cart and looked up. She froze, catching tail end of black curls and a gait similar to Jon’s at the end of frozen food aisle. Was it him...? She pushed the cart down the rest of the aisle and looked both ways. There were too many people and too many aisles to duck into if it was him. 

But it probably wasn't. It was just that she missed him. Desperately in fact. Once their allotted text messages were done, and he had been so good at adhering to them, she was left wanting more. But she was the one that had set the boundaries and the rules, and she had to adhere to them too. If she didn't, then Jon wouldn't learn he couldn't act like a madman when he didn't get what he wanted, and he wouldn't have taken this opportunity to meet people and get acclimated to school. 

She read articles about dating a younger man. She read articles about men dating older women. It was always the same. For the men it was a pat on the back, but a warning that either the woman might only see it as a fling, and besides, what is wrong with the “Cougar” or “MILF’ that she couldn’t find someone her own age? 

For the women it was a ‘way to go, girl’, and all the benefits that came with dating a younger man – stamina being at the top of the list. But also a warning that he would eventually move on to someone closer to his own age. There was always an undertone of salaciousness that made Sansa wonder if there was something wrong with her. 

Why _couldn’t_ she find someone her own age? Simple: she didn’t try hard enough. She had given up. It wasn’t that she couldn’t find a man her own age to date, it was just that she hadn’t bothered with making dating a priority. 

And then Jon.

And then _Jon._

What had she been thinking? Why him? Maybe she was overthinking it. Maybe she needed to do a little bit more of what he and Jeyne wanted her to do which was allow herself to be loved. Maybe things would work out. Maybe Benjen would eventually come around. Maybe the shit storm she was imagining wouldn’t actually come to fruition. Or at least not be as bad as she was imagining it. 

Glancing out the window at the front of the store, she swore she saw him again. But when she looked again, he was gone. 

**Day 5**

Google search: _How to tell your best friend you're in love with his Mom_

Results: 

_Should Your Mom Really Be Your Best Friend? - The Daily Beast_

_9 Things You Should Never Tell Your Man - Redbook_

_9 Reasons Your Mom Is The Best Friend You Could Ever Have_

_You'll be his first kiss His first love His first friend You are his Mother_

_How To Make (Almost) Any Mom Love You - The Frisky_

_21 Signs Your Mom Is Actually Your Best Friend - BuzzFeed_

_15 Signs Your Mom Is Your Best Friend - BuzzFeed_

New Search: _Falling in love with an older woman_

Search Results

_Older Woman/Younger Man and Why Age Has Nothing to Do With ..._

_Ageless Love_

_Help! I've fallen in love with an older woman. - Salon.com_

_How to Make an Older Woman Fall in Love with You - LovePanky_

_I'm in Love With a Much Older Woman, But I'm Worried | Ask Athena ..._

_Is it bad to fall in love with an older woman? - Quora_

_Can a woman fall in passionate love with a younger man? Is this taboo ..._

_I have fallen in love with a much older woman. How should I proceed ..._

This was more like it. 

Two hours later - new Google Search: _Can you die of a broken heart?_

**Day 6**

Jon: _She walks in beauty, like the night_  
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;  
And all that’s best of dark and bright  
Meet in her aspect and her eyes

Sansa: _This is probably not the best time to bring it up, but I always preferred "When We Two Parted" by Byron. I used to have it all memorized. Let's see how I do:_  
When we two parted  
In silence and tears,  
Half broken-hearted  
To sever for years,  
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,  
Colder thy kiss;  
Truly that hour foretold  
Sorrow to this.

Jon: _San. You're killing me here. Really? That one? You went with that one?!_

Sansa: _I'm sorry! You started it with reciting Byron. Here's an Oscar Wilde bon mot: I am not young enough to know everything. Oh, dear, I'm sorry. That wasn't helpful at all was it? *sticking out my tongue at you*_

Jon: _...._

_....._

_...._

_Here's one: A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing._

Sansa: _LOL. Well played._

 

**Day 7**

“So I met this guy in one of my classes who’s dating an older woman,” Jon said over dinner with his Mom one night. 

His Mom looked up from the fork of spaghetti she was twirling. “Oh? How much older is she?”

“Twenty-one years.”

His Mom’s gray eyes went wide. She was thoughtful as she stuffed her mouth with a forkful of spaghetti. “How long has it been going on for? Did he tell you?”

“A few months. He said he’s in love with her.”

“He just told you all this in class?’

“Well he’d asked me if I had a girlfriend.”

“You mean the girlfriend you still haven’t told me about?”

“That’s because we’re still on a break.”

“Like Ross and Rachel?”

“From that show _Friends_ you made me watch reruns of with you?”

His mother rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

Jon took a sip of his beer. His mom let him have one once in a while when it was just the two of them. “Yes and no. We still text.”

Lyanna rolled her eyes again. “Of course.”

“So, I didn’t know what to say to this guy. I mean, he seemed like he wanted to talk about it.”

“How old is he?”

“Nineteen.”

“And this woman is forty?”

Jon nodded, hoping he was giving nothing away. 

“Well, I think it’s a little disturbing, but I suppose he is an adult. I tend to think it won’t last though.”

Jon’s stomach dropped. “Why?” _Please don’t say because it’s just a fling for her…_

“Well, it’s probably just a fun fling for her. He’s so young; what could they possibly have in common? He’s still young and immature probably. Those things will grate on her nerves after a while.”

“He seems pretty mature for his age,” Jon said, hoping his voice sounded level and calm. _I’m trying, Mom. I’m trying for Sansa because I love her._

“In all the what – five-ten minutes you talked?”

“What about you? Have you ever thought about dating someone younger, Mom?”

She sat back, looking thoughtful. “There was a patient once that made me think about it, yeah. He wasn’t almost twenty years younger though. Just ten.”

“What happened?”

“I decided not to. I didn’t think you’d take it well for one, and for another…well, I guess I just didn’t think it would have worked out.”

“But how do you know that? What if he was the great love of your life?”

Lyanna laughed and then reached over and patted his arm. “Jon, you’re the great love of my life.”

Well that hadn’t been helpful at all. 

“What do you have planned for tonight?” Lyanna asked. 

“Oh, I’m just meeting Sam, Ygritte, and Val at a restaurant.”

“You just ate!” she laughed.

He shrugged. “I could get dessert. Val and Ygritte can drink so that’s what it’s really all about. A place where we can hang out and they can drink.”

“Have you been to your first college party yet?”

Jon frowned. “Yeah, and it sucked. I was put in the basement and given warm beer. Some guy pissed in the corner. I left early.”

“Were you put there because you’re a freshman and they knew it?”

Jon shrugged. “I don’t care. Maybe I’ll try again, but it was loud and annoying.”

“Try again. That’s part of the college experience.”

If I never hear ‘college experience’ again it’ll be too soon, he thought bitterly. “Let me help you clean up before I go.”

“No no. Go see your friends. I got this.”

Jon sighed. He could text Sansa in the car before he left. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

He got up, went over to her and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, honey,” she said with a smile up at him. 

He walked to his car, thinking his Mom deserved to have someone special in her life, and hoped that Benjen felt that way about his Mom too. And he probably did, but was probably thinking that someone special didn’t have to be his best friend…

Sitting in his car, Jon fired off a text to Sansa: _I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, baby. I can kiss you, right? Because fuck I need to kiss you badly._

No answer. 

Okay, she could be doing something. He turned the car on and put his phone propped up so he could see it in case she texted back. 

Missing her, he decided to take the long way to the restaurant he was meeting his friends at and turned down Sansa’s road. He’d only done this a couple times on the off chance she saw him drive by her house. Sometimes he missed her so much he couldn’t stand it so he drove by to be somehow closer to her. 

The lights were out in the house. She was out. 

His stomach now in knots, Jon now made his way to the restaurant. He kept glancing at his phone the whole way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I didn't get to reply back to everyone's comments today! It was a busy day! :) know that I love and appreciate you all,and as always special thanks to my girls - Jeanettesc and kittykatknits!

Sansa and Jeyne were at The Wall, a popular restaurant and bar in town having dinner and a drink. It catered to all sorts of clientele, including college students, and Sansa thought maybe she'd see Jon there when she suggested it to Jeyne. 

Pretty early on, Sansa had steered the conversation from her and Jon to Jeyne and Robb, and so far the conversation hadn't turned back to her own love-life. That was fine with Sansa. She rather felt that perhaps she needed to not think and obsess over it for a while. She had come to the conclusion already that she loved Jon. She did. She loved him. But when she thought of Benjen and how he would react, then how her family would and Joffrey...well, then she was back to just not knowing what to do. 

"So you're giving it another go then," Sansa said, taking a sip of her wine. She smiled when the waitress came over and cleared their plates. 

"We are," Jeyne said, once the waitress had left. "And I already told him that if we can't make it work this time..." She made a gesture as though slitting her throat, her eyes wide, her jaw stretched out. 

"Well, you know I'm rooting for you. And I'll happily kick his ass if need be."

Jeyne laughed. "Could you?"

Sansa grinned. "He does tell me I'm freakishly strong."

"Good to know," Jeyne said with a smirk. "So now what about you, Miss? How are things going with Jon?"

Sansa sighed. "He's doing well. He's adhered to the three texts a day, he hasn't shown up at the house. I did think I saw him at the grocery store the other day, but I honestly think I just miss him."

"Because you looooove him," Jeyne sing-songed. 

Sansa twirled her half-empty wine glass on the table. "I do."

xxxxxxxxxxx

Jon wasn't into this night out. 

The Wall, the restaurant and bar they were at, was fine and all. A bar sat smack dab in the middle of the room seeming to almost separate the two sides of the place. People could eat and drink at the bar, or they could eat and drink at the booths that ran along the walls on either side. It was crowded and a little loud, but that didn’t bother him as much as company he was currently keeping was. 

He was already tense, thinking of Sansa possibly being out on a date. She said she wouldn't…no, actually she said she wouldn’t without _telling_ him. But what if all this time apart meant she had rethought that? What if it was just as the articles had suggested and she figured he was too much work due to Benjen, her family, and the shit her ex would give her? What if after not being around for a week she’s realized that he was just good for sex and not worth the rest?

What if she didn't love him?

The thought was like a punch to his gut. A rip to his already splintering heart. His nerves were frayed, his skin felt tight and hot. He checked his phone again. Still no text back. 

"Would you put that fucking thing away?" Ygritte said from beside him. Val and Sam sat on the other side of the booth. 

“You’re not the boss of me,” he said, a bit tersely.  
“Are you waiting for a call from your girl?” Sam asked. 

“A text,” Jon replied, glancing up at Sam. “I texted her earlier and she hasn’t texted me back.”

“She could be out with friends,” Sam suggested. 

It was on the tip of Jon’s tongue to say he knew she was out because he’d driven by her house, but he didn’t think that would go over well. Instead, he stared at the text messages they’d exchanged the day before and waited for those three dots to appear that said she was texting back. 

Ygritte, ballsy girl that she was, attempted to grab the phone from him. He deftly moved it away from her grasping hands and glared at her. She smirked, which infuriated him. She thought this was a joke. She thought _he_ was a joke. She thought given more time, he’d find someone else and move on from Sansa. 

Move on from the woman he ached for all day and night to the point that he felt like an open bleeding wound? Not likely. On his way to school lately he practiced what he was going to say to Benjen when they told him. He also practiced what he was going to tell his mother. After his conversation with her that night, he had some worries about that. 

“You know what you need?” Ygritte asked. 

This should be good. “No,” he said with a smirk. “What do I need?”

She surprised him then by sliding up close to him, nearly pushing him into the wall as he was the one sitting on the inside of the booth rather than the outside. She pressed up against him and whispered in his ear, “You need to get fucked. Val and I have been talking about it. We think you should fuck us.”

And then she slid her hand across his chest. He caught her wrist and reared back just in time to catch a glimpse over her shoulder of Sansa at the bar. 

_Sansa._

Sansa was _here._

Sansa was standing there with her baby blues looking right at him. 

His breath caught. She was like an oasis in a desert. And he was thirsty. So fucking goddamn thirty. 

She looked to the side and that’s when he saw her friend Jeyne. She was upset. His Sansa was upset. She looked distraught as she and Jeyne spoke quickly. Then she nodded and turned toward the door, almost running to it, not even giving him a backward glance. Jeyne glared at him and that’s when Jon finally got over the surprise and pure fucking joy of seeing his woman, and realized she must have seen Ygritte coming on to him. 

“No, no, no, _no_ ,” Jon said, his voice rising each time he said it. “ _No_!” he shouted. He didn’t hear Sam saying his name, didn’t hear Val or Ygritte, nor did he pay any mind to the hush that fell over the restaurant. 

Ygritte had the sense to at least move out of the way when Jon hefted himself out of the booth and climbed up on the table in his haste to get to Sansa. He knocked over drinks, broke glasses. He didn’t care. Sansa had seen what Ygritte did and she thought the worst. He had to fix it. That was all he could think. 

He jumped down from the table, and ran to the door. And then out of it. He was frantic. He knew if she thought he was entertaining the idea of dating someone, she would step aside. That’s what the whole separation had really come down to it, hadn’t it? Seeing if he found someone closer to his own age to date. 

“Sansa!” he shouted. “Sansa!” 

His heart. He felt as though he was going to have a heart attack. “Sansa!”

“Jesus Christ. Should I call you Stanley now?” 

Jeyne. Under different circumstances Jon might have laughed at her “A Streetcar Named Desire” reference. Instead, he ignored her and went deeper into the parking lot. He saw her then, under a streetlamp and he heard the jingle of keys. She was looking down and it was clear she attempting to open her car door. He caught sight of the tears on her cheeks. He started to eat the distance between them, determined to get to her. 

“Jon, just stop,” Jeyne said and he could hear her coming after him. 

He ignored her and kept going. Sansa looked up and shook her head at him. “Jon, it’s okay. Go back inside. Everything is fine.”

Her voice. He hadn’t heard her voice in a week. He shook his head. “What you saw, it’s not what you think.”

Jeyne grabbed his arm and pulled. “Stop, Jon. Just leave her alone.”

Jon turned his head and glared at her. “Let. Me. Go.”

Jeyne let his arm go. “Just let her go.”

“You’re not keeping me from her,” he growled. “No one is keeping me from her.”

Sansa walked away from the driver’s side of her car and came out in the open where he could feast his eyes on her. “Jon, it’s okay. I understand. I really do, and it’s okay. I told you that you would meet someone and I’m happy for you—”

She broke off when he dug his hands into her hair at the sides and drew her to him. Her body bounced against his and he groaned. “Shut up,” he said hoarsely. “Just shut up.” 

“Jon, stop,” she muttered and pushed at his chest. 

“I thought she was a lesbian until she whispered in my ear and tried to put her hands on me,” he told her. “Sansa, look at me, look at me, baby, please!”

She stopped fighting and looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. 

“What you saw was her coming on to me and me being fucking shocked. She has a girlfriend! Did you see the blond on the other side of the booth? That’s her girlfriend. I didn’t know they were bi.”

Her bottom lip quivered and Jon stared at it, wanting so bad to bite it and suck it into his mouth. He was so desperate for her he was practically salivating. “God, I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered. “Sansa, please believe me. What you saw was nothing. It wasn’t what you thought.”

She licked her lips and he groaned and leaned in. “Sansa—”

“For what it’s worth, I think he’s telling the truth,” Jeyne said from behind them. “I did see him grip that girl’s wrist, stopping her from touching him.”

Sansa’s gaze skittered over to Jeyne and then back at Jon. “If you had an interest—”

He wasn’t going to hear any more about that. Instead, he drew her face to his and kissed her. The taste of her in his mouth again had him hardening in his jeans. When he broke the kiss they were both panting and he busied himself with leaving open mouthed kisses on her face. “I missed you so much. God, I love you. I love you so much—”

“I love you too,” she said softly. 

He froze and looked down at her. Her blue eyes met his and he forgot to breathe. “Did you…did you just say…?”

Her kiss swollen lips curled into an impish smile. “I love you, Jon.”

Jon shut his eyes and pushed his forehead into hers, her face still in his hands. “You love me?”

“I do.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

She giggled and it was like music to his hears. He smiled. 

“Jon, will you open your eyes and look at me?” she asked. 

He moved his face back and opened his eyes. Her beautiful face was lit up with a smile. How was it possible that her smile, her laughter, her _everything_ could simultaneously mend his heart and break it?

“I, Sansa Stark, love _you_ , Jon Snow.”

Tears sprang to his eyes and he felt as though a rush of joy, it was as if someone had just shot him full of fucking sunshine. “You love me,” he said in awe. “You said it. You love me.”

“Yes, Sally Field. I love you.”

“No jokes,” he gasped and dropped his hands to take her hands and drag her to her car. 

“Hey,” she said. “Where did Jeyne go? And when?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t care.” He got to the driver’s side and pulled on the door. It opened and he hit the automatic locks and heard the sound of all the doors unlocking. He shut the driver’s side door, and then moved to the backseat door and opened it. 

“Jon, what are you doing?” His sweet innocent Sansa asked him. 

He tugged her around him and nudged her into the backseat. “Get in, baby.”

Her eyes went wide. “Here? Can’t you wait until we get home?”

He smiled wide at that. _Home_. Home with her. “No, I can’t. I need you now.” He pushed her inside and she went, sliding back against the seat. He climbed in after her and shut the door. “I’ve been without you for a week and you just said you love me. I can’t wait at all.” He slipped his hands under her skirt and pulled her panties down. He then pulled off her sandals and then took off her panties and held them up. “These are mine. The first time you told me you loved me panties.”

She laughed and pulled at his shirt. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she murmured. 

“You feel it too, yeah?” he asked as he quickly undid his jeans and shoved them and his boxers down. His cock, rock hard, sprang free. “That aching desire to be joined? To be one? To not know where one ends and the other begins?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes.”

He groaned and kissed her soundly as he crawled over her. Thankfully the seat was big enough to accommodate this. “I want you naked, but this is just to take the edge off,” he told her as she reached down and slid his cock against her folds. “You’re so fucking wet….”

“I’m always wet for you,” she whispered in his ear. 

He couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed inside her and then held himself there. Her walls caressed his cock. She was so hot and tight and pulsing around him. 

“Fuck….me….” she said hotly in his ear. 

He set a brutal pace, needing the release of the tension of the past week. He placed his hands on either side of her head while she wrapped her legs around him. He fucked her hard. He fucked her fast. The slap of their flesh rent the air, the scent of sex permeated it. His whole world was narrowed down to them. To this. To their joined bodies, to her looking up at him with lust and love - yes, _love_ , in her eyes. 

“You’re mine,” he said through clenched teeth. He was close. So very close. “You’re mine now, Sansa, and I’m never letting you go again. You love me and you’re _mine_.”

She nodded, her hands balling up his black shirt in her fists as he pounded into her. 

“Say it,” he grunted. 

“I’m yours,” she whimpered. 

“This separation is over,” he told her. “It’s not happening again. Not ever again.”

She nodded and her eyes began to flutter shut as they always did when she was close to her peak. 

“Look at me,” he growled. “Don’t take your eyes off me. Watch me make love to you. Watch me take you…claim you.”

“Right there, don’t stop – Jon!”

He leaned down and kissed her hard while continuing to fuck into her. She was cumming, her walls pulsing around his cock, his shirt still in her fists. “I’m cumming,” he gasped. “I’m cumming inside you right fucking now!”

He slammed inside her and held himself there. He saw stars. He forgot how to breathe right. He held himself still, his entire body rigid as he came and came and came… “Fuck!” he shouted. “Fuck, Sansa!”

He slumped against her. He was sweating. So was she. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. 

“As much as I’d love to lay here and enjoy this afterglow a little longer,” she said from under him. “Do you think we could go home now?”

His laugh was raspy. “Yeah, baby. We can go home. I hope you’re ready.”

“For another go? I am.”

He lifted up and looked down at her. “No, sweetheart. Not just another go. An all-nighter. I’m not stopping until you beg me to.” He bent down and kissed her, and then whispered against her lips, “Tonight I _live_ inside you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: all smut. From Jon's POV (thank you, kitty ;))


	10. Chapter 10

Sansa didn't understand why he insisted on leaving his car in the restaurant parking lot and taking them both home in her car. "Doesn't that make more sense, honey?" she asked when they'd climbed out of the backseat, clothes righted gain. 

Jon drew her into his arms and kissed her as he pushed the door closed behind her. "Yeah, it does. But I don't want to be apart from you for a minute, baby. Besides, your car smells like sex now. The sex we just had. It makes me high."

"You're crazy," she said with a laugh. 

"About you, yes," he said and tapped her bottom with his hand, causing her to let out a surprised squeak. He grinned. "Get in, love. Let's go home."

With one last kiss, she practically bounced over to the passenger side and Jon watched her with a wide smile. She was happy. He loved seeing her happy. And fuck, he was so happy he thought he might actually shout from the rooftops that Sansa Stark loved him. Sansa Stark was his, finally. 

In the car, on their way home, Jon grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her fingers and holding her hand against his face so he could kiss it every now and again. 

"Jon, what was your friend saying to you exactly?" Sansa asked. 

"She's not my friend anymore," Jon said simply. He didn't want to talk about Ygritte. He didn’t care that she was bi, he cared about the fact that Ygritte had come onto him that way and in front of Sansa. Granted, Ygritte hadn’t known Sansa was there, but she knew how Jon felt about her. What made her think he would go for that? 

"But what did she say?" 

"She said she and Val wanted to take me home and fuck me."

Sansa's hand curled into a fist and Jon pressed kisses to her fingers again and again until she relaxed. "You weren't...interested?"

"I didn't have time to process it. I was shocked because I didn't know they were bi, and then I saw you." He kissed her palm. " _I saw you_." 

Sansa pulled her hand from his and he reached out, intent on grabbing it back. She laughed and ran her fingers through his curls, causing him to tremble and feel like a cat wanting to stretch and arch into her touch. “I missed you,” she murmured. 

His heart felt near to bursting as he practically swerved into her driveway. He needed her again desperately and he wondered if he was even going to be able to make it inside before he took her again. 

Sansa hurried out of the car as soon as he cut the engine and Jon wondered if she knew he wanted to drag her in the backseat again. He scurried after her, fumbling for her house key on her key ring and when he was close enough, she grabbed her keys from him and turned to open the door. Jon wrapped an arm around her waist and bent his head, biting at her neck. “I want you now,” he said hoarsely. “Hurry, baby, before I take you right here. God, can you imagine? We’d give the neighbors a show, wouldn’t we? Ooh…I felt that, baby. You just shivered. Did you like that idea, Sansa? You want people to watch us fuck?”

“No,” she moaned, missing the key hole completely. 

“Good. Because no one but me gets to see your delectable body.”

The door burst open and they practically fell inside. Sansa let out a breathless laugh as she broke free of him and moved further inside the house. Jon kicked the door shut and lunged after her, hooking an arm around her waist and hauling her against his front. He ground his erection into her ass. “Feel how hard I am already?” he asked, lifting her slightly, and half carrying her to the hall. 

She nodded and moaned, reaching back with one hand to thread her fingers in his hair. Jon pushed her against the wall. Sansa gasped and put her hands on the wall to brace herself. “Lift your arms up,” he ordered. 

She slid her hands up the wall slowly, and Jon busied himself with sliding her skirt down. She stepped out of it when she felt it at her feet, and he kicked it away. Then he kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks as he stared at her bare ass. He wanted that ass. He wanted _inside_ that ass. He wanted to claim every part of her; have every part of her belong to him completely. 

“Jon, the bedroom is not so far away,” she told him, looking over her shoulder at him. 

He unzipped his jeans and shoved them and his boxers down, completely taking them off and tossing them to join her skirt. He then reached out to her with both hands sliding them around her waist and then down her thighs while pressing his hard cock between her ass cheeks. “I don’t care,” he whispered against her ear. “I want you all over this house, in every position, in every way I can have you. You’re mine now, Sansa.”

She shivered and he grinned as one hand slipped down to her pussy. He groaned, shutting his eyes. “You’re so wet…my cum. Your cum. God, baby, you’re dripping…”

“Jon,” she whimpered, and it was music to his ears. Slowly, he pushed two fingers inside her and then drew them out and circled her clit. She whimpered again and he turned her so she was facing him. He made quick work of her top and while he rid himself of his shirt, she discarded her bra. With a growl, he lifted her up, his arms under her knees and spreading her open for him. He pressed her against the wall and found her hole with ease. He pushed in and she gasped, gripping his shoulders. 

Jon watched her face, looking for any sign that he might be hurting her, but there was nothing but bliss on her gorgeous face. Good. He wanted her to look that blissed out all the damn time. He leaned in and kissed her, licking inside her mouth. Her tongue met his and he groaned, fucking her harder, pinning her to the wall. She couldn’t move much, so he did all the work, fucking inside her slick passage. He stopped and ground against her. She threaded one hand into his hair at the back of his head and they breathed together, their breath mingling. 

“Jon,” she sobbed, her head falling forward. 

“Look at me,” he growled. “I want your eyes on me, Sansa.”

She shook her head. “I’m close, don’t stop.”

With Herculean effort, Jon pulled out of her, gasping. He was close too. She lifted her head and looked at him, her now indigo eyes wide. 

“Hold onto me,” he panted and she wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her away from the wall and carried her into the bedroom. Her breasts bounced and his mouth watered. He dropped her onto the edge of the bed and she scrambled back into the middle of it, spreading her sleek legs and resting up on her elbows. He crawled onto the bed and knelt between her legs. He leaned down and sucked a breast into his mouth, flicking her nipple with his tongue until it hardened. He released it with a pop and then blew on the wet nipple, causing it to pucker even more. Then he treated her other breast to the same treatment and lifted his head to look at her. 

She took his breath away. 

“God, I love you,” he gasped. 

Her smile, her arresting smile, caused him to lose his breath again. “I love you, too.”

Was it possible to be so happy that it hurt? Was it possible to love so much that it brought pain? He pressed his forehead to hers and she went back onto the bed with him following, taking the air from her mouth into his own. 

“Jon…” she said on a sigh and he kissed her hard. He loved her more and wanted her more than words allowed. It overwhelmed him, this feeling. And it scared him to feel so much for another person. She held his heart and his soul in her delicate hands. She alone had the power to crush him. To reduce him to dust. 

“I’ll never let you go,” he vowed. “You’re mine to protect. To love. To cherish. You can’t ever leave me, Sansa. Do you hear me? Never.” His voice shook and she heard it, the desperation laced in his words and his tone. She reached up and cradled his face in her hands. She pushed his head up so she could look at him. 

“I love you, Jon,” she told him. “God knows we’ll have a lot to deal with going forward—”

“But we’ll do it together,” he said. “Yeah?”

She nodded and kissed him sweetly, assuaging some of his worries. He didn’t think he’d ever stop worrying until they were out in the open and the fallout from that was behind them. What if she got it in her head to leave him again?

“Say it again,” he whispered as he reached down with one hand placed the head of his cock against her opening. 

“I love you,” she whispered and then gasped he lunged forward inside her, impaling her on his cock. She gripped his shoulders, and he got down on his elbows as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her eyes lifted to his and he grunted, not taking his eyes off her as he began to pound her into the bed. 

“Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon,” she moaned. Her eyes shut and he growled, “ _Look at me_.”

She did, her eyes half mass. Her mouth fell open into an ‘O’, her head digging back into the bed. It was a silent scream of her orgasm. Jon felt her walls massaging him and he lost the battle to hold on. He slammed himself inside her to the hilt and let go with a roar. 

Feeling lightheaded and drained for the moment, Jon pulled his softening cock from her with a moan and dropped to the side of her. He immediately pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly, winding his body around hers. They’d worked up a sweat again and their bodies were slightly stick to the touch, but Jon didn’t care. He slid his hand down her back and then over her ass as he nuzzled against the side of her face. She wore a wisp of a smile as she ran her hand down his arm. 

“Never stop touching me,” he murmured. “I want your touch always, Sansa.”

“What do you say we have a bath?” she asked, looking at him. 

“I’m just going to dirty you up again,” he said with a smirk. 

“I know, but I need a few to rejuvenate and I imagine you do too. Whaddya say?”

He grinned and nodded. “Lead the way.”

She lifted off of him and slid down of the bed with Jon right behind her. She got two steps away from the bed when he swooped her up in his arms. She squealed and he kissed her before carrying her to the bathroom. She reached out to flick the light on outside the bathroom and once inside, placed her down on the counter. He could see his cum seeping from her still and he couldn’t help but watch, fascinated. Reddening, Sansa attempted to close her legs, but Jon shook his head and spread them. He reached down and gathered some of their mingled juices from her. She surprised him by grabbing his wrist and licking his fingers clean. 

Groaning, his dick twitched as he watched her. She looked mighty proud of herself when she released his wrist, and then she pushed him away. “Bath,” she said and slid off the counter. 

Jon wasn’t sure why they’d never made use of her giant bathtub before. It was so totally Sansa, too – it was a clawfoot tub with a huge arch in the back for leaning against and it was big enough for two comfortably. She started the water, leaning over to make sure the water was warm enough. Jon came up behind her, and when she stood he wrapped his arms around her. She giggled softly and placed her hands over his arms. He nuzzled into her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. 

“Sansa,” he said huskily. 

“Jon.”

“Have you ever done anal?” She stiffened and he laughed. “Is that a no?”

“I tried it with Joffrey,” she said. “And he hurt me.”

“That’s because he’s a fucking prick,” Jon said, menace in his tone. “I would never hurt you, Sansa.” He hated to think of Sansa with that asshole. Truth be told, he hated to think of her with _anyone_ but him. 

“You want to fuck my ass?”

“I want everything,” he whispered. “All of you. I want your body, your heart, and your soul.”

She sagged slightly against him. “Well…maybe we could start slow and work up to it?”

“Anything you want,” he said. “If I ever hurt you, you tell me and we stop, okay?”

She nodded. “Let me check the bath.”

Ten minutes later, there were bubbles in the warm water and Sansa had her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. Jon sat behind her in the tub and she sat between his legs. She’d even dimmed the lights, and explained to him that she’d put a dimmer in the bathroom for the very purpose of relaxing in the tub. 

He told her about his classes as their hands curled and traced around each other’s. He kept the side of his face pressed against the side of hers. 

“Did you touch yourself thinking of me as much as I jerked off thinking about you?” he asked. 

Her lips curled into a mischievous smirk. “How often did you jerk off?”

“Morning, noon if I could, and night.”

She smiled. “Night. I touched myself at night.”

His dick was starting to come back to life. “I want to see.”

She froze. “You want to see me touch myself?”

“Yes. I want to watch you play with your sweet pussy while I jack off for you.”

Her legs moved under the water and he knew she was turned on. “Okay,” she whispered, and she sounded a little nervous and unsure about it. 

Good thing for her he wasn’t at all shy about it. “Let’s get up, love. I want to watch and I know I’m going to need you again after.”

She laughed. “Impatient, are we?”

“I told you I plan to have you all night, didn’t I? I’m a man of my word.”

She laughed again and rose from the water, taking his breath away yet again. He knew she was self-conscious at times of her changing body. Over the summer she would comment from time to time about her stretch marks or how her breasts weren’t as perky as a twenty-year-olds anymore. 

Jon wished she could see herself through his eyes. To him, she was perfect. A work of art. He rose to his knees and kissed her belly. She looked down at him in surprise and he looked up at her and smiled. “You’re my beautiful girl,” he told her. “My gorgeous Sansa.”

“Stop it,” she said lightly and pushed at his shoulder. 

He shook his head. “Nope,” he said softly. “I worship you.”

He slowly rose to his feet, dropping kisses on each breast before standing upright completely. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her passionately, moaning at the feel of her slick body against his own. He slid his hands over her ass and with one hand slid one hand down between her cheeks and circled the tight bud of her ass with his finger. She stiffened at first and then moaned and relaxed, kissing him harder. 

Jon figured that was far enough for now and he broke the kiss to help her out of the tub. They dried off with the fluffy white towels Sansa had grabbed for them, and when he reached for her, she laughed and ran out of the bathroom. Jon gave chase, but she’d managed to launch herself onto the bed before he could grab her. She lay back against the pillows and spread her legs, showing him her pretty pink pussy. 

He stopped at the foot of the bed and watched, his heart racing, his cock hardening. 

Sansa bit her lip and slid both hands to her breasts. She cupped them, teased her nipples until they turned hard and while cupping one breast, slid her other hand down to her pussy. She spread her legs further, bending her knees, and circled her clit with the tip of her middle finger. 

“Sansa,” Jon croaked. 

She then licked her finger and his eyes watched every movement avidly, and then slid it inside her hole. She fucked herself with her finger the way his cock would, and then she pulled it out, wetter now, and circled her clit again and again. She moaned, her back arching. “Jon,” she murmured. “Touch yourself…”

Oh yeah. That was part of the deal. Watching her fuck herself with her finger again, Jon spit in his hand and then dropped it down to his dick. He gripped the base, and then started to stroke. 

Her eyes watched him as intently as he watched her. When she worked herself up to an orgasm, Jon gripped the base of his cock to keep from cumming. She cried out, her back arching off the bed and grasping the comforter in one hand, while her other hand slowly stopped moving over her clit. 

He wanted a taste now. 

Jon climbed up onto the bed while she was still riding out her climax and grabbed her wrist, bringing her hand that had been in her cunt to his mouth. He sucked on her finger and she looked at him, eyes heated. 

Then he got down on his stomach, put his hands on her thighs, and feasted on her sweet cunt. She pushed at his head at first, trying to stop him, and he knew it was because of how sensitive her clit must be. But he was determined to make her cum again. 

Sucking her clit in his mouth he flicked his tongue against it rapidly and then released it and licked up her slit again and again and then repeated the action of sucking her clit in his mouth. 

“Jon!” she cried out, her hips undulating. Her wetness increased as she came and Jon lapped at her until she pushed at him. This time he stopped and crawled over her. She looked up at him half in a daze and half hungrily. She licked her palm and then grasped his cock and he grunted. “Sansa.”

“I want you to come on me,” she told him, sounding determined. It turned him on. He thought to mention that cumming on her would defeat the purpose of the bath, but then opted not to. He had warned her that he was just going to dirty her up again. This time, she dictated how and he loved it. He fucking _loved_ it. 

“Stand up,” she ordered. 

He stood. He fucking loved her like this! She scooted forward and took him in her mouth and Jon cried out, feeling his knees weaken. “Fuck!” he shouted. He pulled her ponytail free and tangled his hands in her hair as she sucked him. “God, Sansa, yes,” he murmured. “I love that hot mouth. That fucking hot mouth…suck me, baby. Suck me down…yeah, that’s it, Sansa…”

She gobbled him down to her throat and Jon gripped her hair tighter, hoping he didn’t hurt her. “Fucking hell, that’s my girl. That’s my sweet Sansa. Take me down your throat…yes, like that, oh fuck, Sansa, fuck, I’m going to cum!”

She took her mouth off of him and pointed his dick down to her breasts. He let go, releasing globs of his cum on them. He was aware that he sounded like an animal, grunting as he came, but he just didn’t care. Seeing his cum on her like that, it did things to him. She. Was. _His._

He got down on his knees and before he could take her in his arms, she was getting up off the bed. 

“Where the fuck are you going?” he growled. 

She grinned at him as she sailed out of the door. “To clean up.”

Jon fell back against the bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for her to come back. His body was relaxed and almost… _humming_. And he was happy. So fucking goddamned happy. He smiled wide and when Sansa came back, curling up in his arms, she asked what he was smiling about.  
He leaned down and kissed her slowly. “You, my sweet girl. I’m smiling because of you. You’re mine now.”

She smiled. “And you’re mine.”

“I was yours the minute I saw you,” he murmured and kissed her again. She turned her head and yawned and he chuckled. “I tucker you out already?”

She nodded, snuggling into him and tucking her head under his chin. “Yes.”

Jon reached out and pulled some of the comforter up over them. Sansa reached behind her and did the same. He kissed her forehead. “Sleep for a bit, my love,” he murmured. “But just know that we are _far_ from over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm spent.


	11. Chapter 11

Jon hadn't been kidding when he'd said he planned to go all night and that he was going to live inside her. He'd allowed Sansa to sleep for a little while, and she supposed perhaps he'd dozed off too, but then she was woken up with kisses and his hand between her legs. He'd fingered her to orgasm and then made love to her slowly until she was sobbing out her orgasm. 

He'd held her in his arms after and they'd dozed off together for a while until Sansa got up to use the bathroom, which had woken Jon who had then used the bathroom, and then it all started again when he returned. Now it was morning, Sansa didn't even know what time it was any more and she was currently too busy riding Jon to care. She didn't have anywhere to be that day and when she asked if he had class he just said he was allowed to blow off a few. It was perhaps irresponsible of her to be okay with him blowing off class, but again, at the moment she didn't care. His cock was in her pussy, his thumb was on her clit, and he was watching her ride him as though she was a Goddess. 

"God, look at you," he rasped. "I'm the luckiest man alive. You're so fucking gorgeous and you fuck me so perfectly. Look at those tits bouncing as you ride me. They make my mouth water, did you know that?" He sat up now, adjusting them slightly which caused Sansa to whine, and then he had his mouth on her breast and she didn't care anymore that she'd had to stop for a second. His hands splayed against her back as he suckled from her. "I've never had an oral fixation until you," he murmured as he licked her nipple. He looked up at her and tugged on her hair, signaling that he wanted her to look at him. He always wanted her looking at him. She looked down and he gently took her face in his hands and kissed her long, hard, and deep. 

"Hey, Mom, I'm - what the fuck?!"

Only the sound of her son's voice could make Sansa stop chasing her climax. Jon froze under her, and they broke their kiss to look toward the door. 

Sansa felt as though everything was moving in slow motion. Turning her head, looking at her son standing in the doorway with his mouth hanging open, Jon lifting her off of him and depositing her on the bed while he scrambled out of the bed while Benjen started shouting - there was a ringing in her ears and she couldn't hear it. 

Benjen. Benjen was home. Benjen had seen. Benjen knew. 

In shock, Sansa watched in horror as Benjen charged forward after Jon, fists flying, and clocked Jon on the side of the face. He was ready to go for more when Jon tackled him about the waist, sending them both to the hardwood floor. Sansa snapped into action and scurried out of the bed, grabbing her bathrobe off the chair in the corner of her bedroom and ran to break the boys up. 

The _boys_. 

Perhaps a little too late to be thinking about how Jon was still a boy. 

"Stop it!" Sansa shouted as the two wrestled on the floor. "Benjen! Jon! Stop!"

"I don't want to fight you, Benjen!" Jon shouted. Then he howled. "Fuck! You got me in the dick!"

"Good!" Benjen shouted back. "Then you won't fuck my mother, you fucking asshole!"

Jon managed to get away, grabbing his jeans which Sansa had picked up off the floor the night before and placed in the other chair in the other corner of the room. He stood and, wincing, struggled into his jeans. Benjen lay on the floor, gasping, staring up at the ceiling. He moaned and shut his eyes, digging the bottom of his palms into them. "Tell me this isn't happening!" 

"Benjen," Jon started, now dressed except for his socks and shoes. 

Sansa held up her hand to stop him. He nodded and held up his hand, a sign of surrender. 

"Benjen, baby, why don't you get up off the floor," Sansa said as she knelt down beside him. 

Benjen moved his hands away and looked at her. "Tell me this isn't happening, Mom. Tell me I didn't just walk in here and see you fucking my best friend."

Sansa pursed her lips together and heaved a sigh. "I wish I could tell you that. I didn't want you to find out this way."

Benjen scrambled to his feet. He had tears in his eyes and Sansa's heart ached for her son. When she reached for him, he moved away as though one touch from her would kill him. "How long, Mom? How long has this been going on? Since I left for school?"

Sansa swallowed. She didn't want to tell him that it was before he graduated. She didn't want him or anyone else to know that. But did she want him to know that it had been happening all summer either?

"All summer, Benjen," Jon answered. 

She jerked her head to look at him, eyes flashing. She wanted to take care of this, not him. Jon looked at her. He didn't look happy either. 

"All summer?" Benjen asked hollowly. Then, in a rage, " _All fucking summer_?!?!"

"Benjen, I'm in love with your Mom," Jon said calmly, belying the clench of his jaw and the storm in his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I'm not sorry about it happening. I love her, man."

Benjen jutted a finger out and pointed at Jon. "You know nothing," he seethed and then stormed out of the bedroom. 

Sansa ran after him with Jon on her heels. 

"Benjen, just stop!" Jon called after him. "Let's just sit down and talk about this like adults."

Benjen stopped and whirled around in the living room. "Like an adult? An _adult_?! You're barely an adult and you're telling me to act like one?! You spent an entire summer banging my Mom and never said a goddamn word!" Then he looked at his mother. "And you. What the fuck, Mom? You couldn't find anyone your own fucking age? What are you – some kind of MILF or fucking Cougar? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Jon charged forward and got in Benjen's face. "Don't you fucking talk to your Mother that way," he said furiously. 

"Jon, don't," Sansa said, grabbing his arm. "He has every right to be angry."

"He has no fucking right to talk about you that way! He's your son. I would never talk to my mother that way."

"Fuck you!" Benjen said and stormed to the door. 

Sansa ran after him, following him out the door. "Benjen, where are you going? Benjen, please, just stay and talk to me, please!"

"I'm going to see Dad!" Benjen shouted as he climbed into a red Ford that Sansa didn't recognize. 

"Where did you get the car?" Sansa asked as she hurried after him. He slammed the door shut on her and she curled her fingers over the door. "Benjen, is this a friend's car?"

"Yes," Benjen hissed. "I wanted to come home because I was homesick and wanted to see you and a friend of mine told me I could use his car." He glared at Jon who was standing somewhere behind Sansa. "Obviously, you weren't missing me."

She shook her head as he started the car up. "That's not true. I have missed you. I've called you every day!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you could find the time to call me in between fucking my best friend!"

Sansa stepped back from the car, lest he jerk the car in reverse and she got her feet run over. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Benjen, please...please honey talk to me."

Her son shook his head and did in fact jerk the car into reverse. 

"Please drive carefully!" Sansa shouted after him as he practically burned rubber getting out of the driveway. 

Her heart was breaking. Her son had never talked to her that way. He had always been so respectful of her, and in that moment he'd called her a bitch in heat it was like Joffrey was there talking to her. Had she lost Benjen for good?

"Sansa," Jon said and he put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off. "Sansa," he growled. 

She shook her head. "No."

Jon turned her around, his hands gripping her shoulders. “Sansa—”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t do this. I knew it would be bad, but this…I’m sorry, Jon. I can’t have my son hating me. If or when you become a parent, you’ll understand. He’s my precious baby boy and he hates me right now and I can’t deal with that. I can’t have it. I’m sorry I led you on—”

“You’re upset right now, and understandably so, so I’m not going to entertain you trying to end things.”

“Jon, listen to me—”

“No, Sansa, I’m not going through this again!” he exclaimed. “You’re upset and you’re hurting and I get it, but I’m not running away at the first sign of trouble and neither are you. Come on, let’s go in the house.”

“I need to mobilize,” she said, as though she hadn’t even heard him. She shrugged him off again and started for the house in quick strides. Jon had no choice but to follow after her. “I need to do some damage control and call Tyrion. I need to call my brother, too. Benjen and Robb have always had a good relationship, Benjen can go to Robb. God, that means I have to explain to Robb about this. Tyrion first though. Though if Joff is at work then Tyrion probably is there too so maybe he can diffuse Joff….”

“San, slow down,” Jon said, following her to the bedroom. 

“I don’t have time to slow down, Jon!” she exclaimed as she whirled around to face him. “Benjen is upset and angry. With _me_. He’s gone off to the one person that won’t help him at all in his matter, but will make it all the worse. Joff is going to use this to turn Benjen against me. He’d going to use this to make me look bad to every person who ever took my side over his when we split. God knows what he’ll say to Benjen!”

“And Benjen is a smart guy with a good head on his shoulders because of _you_. He’s angry now, but he won’t be forever. He needs to blow off some steam; he needs to calm the fuck down and after he does, he’ll want to figure this out.”

“I don’t know, Jon. This isn’t like the time I grounded him for sneaking out of the house. This is…he might not forgive me. Or you.”

“Come here,” Jon whispered and steered her to the bed. He sat her down and she hunched over and started to cry. “I’m going to call Jeyne for you, okay?” he said as he rubbed her back. “I don’t want you running around while you’re upset. I want you to calm down too, and I want you to trust me to fix this.”

She sat up and looked at him incredulously. “Fix this? How the hell are you going to possibly _fix_ this?”

“I’m going to talk to Benjen—”

“He wants to see you about as much as he wants to me right now!”

“He doesn’t want to see me right now, it’s true. But I might be able to get to him when he’s calmer. It can’t hurt to try. I’ll even let him fucking punch me again.”

Sansa’s gaze darted to the side of his face where Benjen had clocked him. His cheekbone was turning red. “You need ice,” she murmured. 

“I’ll be fine. Call Jeyne, Sansa, please. I don’t want to leave you here all upset. And I definitely don’t want to leave you here in case anyone else finds out and comes over here to give you shit. You need backup.”

“What are you going to do exactly?” she asked. 

“I’m going to go home and shower. Then I’m going to try getting ahold of Benjen. If he’ll see me I’ll go meet him. If not, I’ll keep trying.”

“I’ll be fine, Jon,” she said, but she didn’t look fine. She looked wrecked and it was worrisome. 

He got up, went to her phone on the nightstand and picked it up. “Call Jeyne. I’m not leaving until you do.”

She looked up at him. “I’m not a child.”

“I know you’re not. But I’m worried about you and I’m not going anywhere until I know you’ll have someone to talk to.”

She frowned. “Dammit. Your car.”

“I’ll call a cab. It’s not a big deal.” He thrust her phone toward her. “Call Jeyne.”

She sighed and grabbed her phone and while she called, Jon got his socks and shoes on. He was relieved when it sounded like Jeyne would be coming over. He didn’t want to leave her. At all. But he was also determined that Benjen was going to talk to him. He wasn’t going to lose Sansa over this. Maybe he was naïve in thinking he could fix this. Maybe he was being too optimistic. He preferred to think of it as determined. 

He didn’t want to lose Benjen as his best friend, but if he had to choose between the woman he loved and his best friend, then he chose Sansa. He would always choose Sansa. He could live with Benjen hating him as long as he didn’t take it out on his mother. And he knew that Benjen loved his Mom; he knew they were close and that Benjen wouldn’t be able to cut her out of his life, and he certainly couldn’t talk to her so disrespectfully. Jon just wanted to remind Benjen of that. 

He sat with her until Jeyne arrived, watching the wheels turn in her mind. She didn’t say much, but then she didn’t have to. He knew she was thinking about how the shit had just hit the fan and all the damage control that needed to be done. He knew she was thinking it, because he was too. 

He kissed the top of her head when Jeyne met them in the bedroom and told her he’d call her later. She nodded absently at him and Jon tried his best not to let that bother him. 

When he got home a half hour later, he started texting Benjen before he jumped in the shower. Benjen wouldn’t text back. After his shower, he tried calling. Benjen wouldn’t answer. 

In the meantime, his Mom came home with a few bags of groceries and frowned at him as he paced in the living room. “Why are you not in class? Do you not have class on Fridays?”

Jon heaved a sigh and looked at his Mom. 

“Jon? What’s going on? Why do you look so sad?”

“Mom,” he said. “I have something to tell you.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much, everyone! And as always thank you to kittykatknits and Jeanettesc!

"You look so serious!" Lyanna said as she carried the plastic bags of groceries to the kitchen. Jon followed her, steeling himself for what he was about to tell her. "What is it, honey?" she asked as she hefted the bags onto the kitchen table. Then she frowned reached over to his face where Benjen had punched him. "What happened?

"You remember my girl that I was going to tell you about?" he asked. 

She nodded and gave him her full attention after putting her purse down too. "I do." She frowned. "Did she do that?"

Jon shook his head. "No, she didn't." 

"Then who did? Or what did? Do you need ice? You should get some ice." She started to turn towards the fridge when he blurted it out: "It's Sansa Stark, Mom. Benjen's mother. She's my girl."

His mother froze, and then turned and started to laugh. "Okay, you had me going there for a minute. If you're not ready to tell me—"

"I'm not lying. It’s not a joke, Mom. Sansa is my girl."

"You mean you have a crush on her? I already figured that out!"

"No, I mean, we were together. We have been together. All summer."

Lyanna shook her head. "You mean you visited her."

"I mean that we..."

Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at him. "Do you mean to tell me that you've been having sex with her all summer?"

He nodded. "Yes. I love her, Mom. I love her so much...and she loves me too."

Lyanna shook her head. "No, no. No, a woman like that doesn't love a boy like you, Jon. You're a _boy_. She's a fully grown woman. She takes advantage of a boy like you!"

"Mom, she's the love of my life."

"You're eighteen years old! What the hell do you know about love? About anything?"

Jon winced. That hurt. "I know that she makes my heart race. I know that she's smart and funny and--"

"And she's, what, forty?"

"Thirty-nine."

"Well bully for her!" She threw her arms up and then grabbed her purse. "I'm going to give that little bitch a piece of my mind."

Jon grabbed her purse and yanked it from her hand. "No. You're not,” he said a lot more harshly than he’d ever spoken to his mother. “You're not doing anything to her, Mom. You're not giving her shit. You're not accusing her of coming after me. You'd not doing anything at all to her, because I was the one that went after her." 

"You went after her? Jon, she's a grown woman who should have put a stop to it! Don't feed me that bullshit!"

"It's not bullshit," Jon said firmly. "I wouldn't let her alone. I wanted her and I meant to have her. I still do. She tried to break it off and I wouldn't let her. The past week when you accused me of moping about? It was because she tried to end it. She wanted me to have 'the college experience' and to meet people and possibly date someone my own age. I did what she asked, save for the dating part. I know it’s a lot to take it right now, Mom, but I love Sansa."

He watched his mother try to take all this in. She was shaking, her face was red, and she kept wringing her hands. 

"I know there's an age difference,” he continued. “Sansa knows too. Trust me, she knows." Jon came over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, eyes wide. "Mom, please, I need you right now. I need you on my side."

"What exactly are you asking me here?" Lyanna asked, eyes narrowing. 

Jon dropped his hands and looked at her solemnly. "Benjen walked in on us this morning....”

“I’m going to assume that means he walked in on you in an intimate moment.” She narrowed her eyes. “Is that where you were all night? _That’s_ where you’ve been all goddamn summer when you didn’t come home? At _her_ place?”

“Yes.” 

“So Benjen, I presume, is the one who punched you?”

"Yes, and he said awful things to Sansa - he freaked the fuck out."

"Can you blame him, Jon?!” she burst out incredulously. “I'm 'freaking the fuck out' right now!"

Jon sighed. “I know you are. I get it.”

“Do you?! Do you really?”

“Sansa said you would react this way.”

“Well, it’s good to know she’s smart enough to figure out I wouldn’t be pleased by her carrying on an affair with my son!”

That enflamed Jon’s temper. “Don’t talk about her like that. She’s not stupid. She’s a smart woman. She predicted how all of this would go down and she has tried to end it. I wouldn’t let her. Are you hearing me? _I would not let her end it_.”

“Oh God. Is this why you were asking me all those questions last night about dating someone younger? That friend you mentioned. That was you?” It was obvious to Jon that she wasn’t hearing him. 

“Mom, I love you, but I really need you to listen to me!” he shouted in frustration. 

“I’m trying to wrap my mind around this, Jon. You and a thirty-nine-year-old woman. You’re _eighteen_.”

“Mom, _please_ ,” he begged. “I need you to listen to me!”

His mother shut her eyes and took several deep breaths, but it didn’t appear to be doing her any good. Finally, she snapped her eyes open and pulled out a kitchen chair. She folded her hands in front of her on the table. “Fine. Talk.”

Jon pointed to the grocery bags. “Anything that needs to go in the fridge?”

“No. Sit. Talk.”

So he did. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

“Did Benjen call?” Sansa asked as soon as she emerged from the shower Jeyne had made her take. Wrapped in terry cloth robe, her heart sank when Jeyne, sitting in the chair in the corner of her bedroom, shook her head. Jeyne looked sad, which helped. At least Jeyne was on her side. 

Jon had been right in having her have Jeyne over. She didn’t know what she would do if she was alone. She wagered she would tried to track Benjen down, but now she could see where perhaps Jon had been right. Benjen needed to cool off. It would be adding kerosene to the fire to go after him, and especially if he was with his father. 

“Tyrion?” Sansa asked. She had made a call to him and wasn’t even sure at this point what she’d said when it had gone to voice mail. She hoped it was somewhat coherent. 

Jeyne shook her head. “I laid out some clothes for you,” she said, pointing to the bed. “You seemed to have forgotten how to use the shower earlier.”

It was true. Sansa had stood there in front of her walk-in shower, just staring at it. Her mind had been going. Thinking of what to do. Of how to handle this situation. It had just spun and spun and spun and no answer had really come to her. Then Jeyne had come over and turned it on and told her to get undressed and get inside. 

And still she ruminated. She couldn’t even remember if she’d washed her hair. 

“Does this mean Tyrion is with Benjen? Is Joffrey with them? Does his not calling back mean he’s disgusted with me?”

“If he is with them, he probably figures it would not be a good time to take your call and has decided to give his full attention to Benjen.”

Sansa wagged her finger in Jeyne’s direction as she made her way to the bed and pulled a pair of panties off it. “Good answer.”

“Do you want me to call Robb?” 

“Yes and no,” Sansa said as she undid her robe, dropped it on the bed, and then put on her bra. Had she even dried off? It would explain why it was so hard to get her bra on if she hadn’t. 

“I can understand that,” Jeyne said. “He can be a hothead, but he is your brother and he loves you.”

Sansa pulled on her jeans and then her top. She pulled the towels she’d wrapped her hair in off her head and dropped it on the bed. She stared at it. 

“Are you going to end it with Jon?” Jeyne asked. 

“I tried to this morning after Benjen sped off.”

“Let me guess – he said no?”

Sansa made a face. “He says that a lot.”

Jeyne laughed softly. “I’m sure he says ‘yes’ a lot to you when it’s something he wants to hear.”

Sansa’s mind drifted to the night before. Well, that was true. She looked at Jeyne. “Benjen is my son. He comes first.”

“No one disputes that, San. But I think you need to let the dust settle before you make any decisions. Benjen is in shock, and while he may not fully come around to this, you can’t let him dictate your personal life.”

“I can when my personal life involves his best friend.”

“The damage is done. You ending things with Jon might not matter one bit to Benjen.”

Sansa welled up in tears. “I hurt my son. And he hates me. I don’t want my son to hate me, Jeyne.”

Jeyne jumped up and rushed over, enveloping her in a hug. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just in shock and he’s trying to make sense of it. He’s upset and he’s hurt, but he’s a good boy, Sansa. You raised him to be a good boy. He’s not going to hate you forever. Maybe not even in an hour. Just give him some time to calm down and we’ll see where everything settles.”

The sound of a car door slamming shut caused Sansa to push Jeyne away and rush to the window. 

Joffrey. 

Fuck. 

She didn’t see Benjen in the passenger side of the sleek and sporty silver sports car. 

“Who is it?” 

“Joffrey,” Sansa murmured. “I’m going to go outside and talk to him. I don’t want him coming in.”

“Let me go with you.”

“No. Just stay here. I can handle him.”

Steeling herself for a barrage of insults, Sansa slipped on her ballet shoes near the door and marched to the door. Joffrey was halfway up the walk when she emerged. He stopped, pushing his obscenely expensive Ray Ban’s up to the top of his head. 

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the cougar,” he mocked. 

“Where’s Benjen?” Sansa asked as she approached Joffrey, putting a few feet in between them. 

“He’s with Tyrion. He’s upset. And understandably so. Me? I find it hilarious.”

Sansa just waited. It was best to just let him get it out of his system. 

“How does it feel to have fallen from grace, Sansa?” Joffrey sneered. “The great and pious Sansa Stark isn’t the best parent on the planet anymore. She is a woman that can do it all still though. Even young boys.”

“Are you done?” she asked. 

“Not quite. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time – the moment when you ceased to be Little Miss Perfect. The moment when people see you for who you really are.”

Sansa glared at him. “See me for who I really am? You must be projecting. How dare you stand there and cast stones at me after all the shit you’ve done. The affairs you had. The fact that you hit me and verbally abused me.”

“You’re full of shit, Sansa. You always have been.”

“Is that the story you tell yourself? You know what makes me the better parent every single time, Joffrey? The fact that my concern in this moment is with Benjen and yours is with me. You’re still the same self-centered prick you’ve always been.”

He was a blur as he lunged at her and Sansa didn’t have a chance to move to defend herself. One minute he was glaring at her, looking down his too tiny nose at her with his beady eyes, and the next instant he had his hand wrapped around her throat and was squeezing, pushing her backwards. His face was red. “You little bitch,” he snarled. “How dare you give me shit when you’re nothing but the town fucking whore!” 

Sansa slapped his arm and tried to dislodge his hand. That only seemed to make him squeeze harder. 

“I’ve been waiting for this day,” he hissed. “For this day when our son sees you for the fucking cunt that you are.”

“Let her go!” 

Sansa could hear Jeyne’s voice ringing out behind her. “You son of a bitch, let her go!” Jeyne screamed. 

Joffrey, surprised by Jeyne’s sudden appearance, loosened his grip. Sansa shoved him away from her and ended up falling on her rump in the process. She started to cough. 

“You fucking prick,” Jeyne seethed. 

Sansa looked up and found Jeyne with a bat in her hand. She must have grabbed it by the front door. Joffrey looked scared now. He ran to the car shouting, “You crazy bitch!”

Jeyne rushed forward after him and Sansa tried to call out to her. “Don’t!”

Either Jeyne heard her or realized that Joffrey would go after her for destruction of property – and because he was a Lannister he would win that round despite what he did to Sansa – she put the bat down by her side as Joffrey tore out of the driveway. 

Jeyne rushed over to Sansa. “Jesus Christ, Sansa. I should have come out with you. Come on. Let’s go inside.”

She helped Sansa to her feet and then inside the house. She sat her down at the kitchen table and got some ice for her throat. “You want to go to the hospital?”

Sansa shook her head. 

“I’ll be right back,” Jeyne muttered and left the kitchen. No doubt to call Robb. 

Sansa, in shock over what had just happened could do nothing but sit there and cry.


	13. Chapter 13

"So, she told you when you made a pass at her that it was inappropriate," Lyanna said. They were still sitting at the kitchen table together, and Jon had told her the story of him and Sansa. Leaving out the sex bits of course, and the fact that he had used Sansa's house key to get into her house. 

Jon nodded. "Yes. She ripped my fucking heart out after I'd finally worked up the nerve to say something to her."

"You're not lying to me just to make her sound better to me, are you?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "God, Mom. No. She has tried multiple times to stop it. I wouldn't let her."

"Should I be concerned about this apparent obsession you have for Ms., er, Sansa?"

"You always told me that I was the type to fall for someone hard and mate for life."

"Yes, Jon, but I didn't expect that it would be with a thirty-nine-year old woman. I was thinking someone closer to your age."

He shrugged. "The heart wants what it wants? All the time I spent going over there, I just wanted to talk to her. Hear her thoughts, listen to her voice, gaze upon her face—"

"Christ. You sound like a goddamned Harlequin novel. Did she ever, at all, make any kind of innuendo? Lead you on in any way?"

"No, Mom. She treated me the way you always treated Benjen when he came over. She never gave me any hint at all that she felt anything for me beyond liking me as Benjen's best friend."

"You realize now that you may have perhaps lost him? How do you feel about that?"

Jon heaved a sigh. "I'm sad that he's upset. I know maybe I should have said something...I don't know what - hey, I'm in love with your Mom? I mean, there was no real way to break that to him, was there?"

Lyanna frowned. "I suppose not. But Jon...look at all you're dealing with right now. The loss of your best friend, who is Sansa's son, and then she has an ex-husband that's probably going to have a few things to say - is all this what you really want to be dealing with? You're _eighteen_...is this what you really want?"

Jon nodded, his expression solemn. "Mom, if at the end of all this - shit, if at the end of the fucking day I get to have Sansa with me? Then yes. I just - I need to prove to her that I can be the man that she needs. I love her. I love her so much and I can't stand to be apart from her. I tried already, and I just can't do it. I want to help her get through this with Benjen and her ex and her family. Mom, I need you on my side."

Lyanna sat back and studied him and Jon waited for her verdict. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Sansa played with the ice pack in her hand while Jeyne made them ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. She still hadn't heard from Tyrion. And she didn't know if calling Jon was the best thing to do at the moment. She didn't know what to do and waiting was just about killing her. 

The doorbell rang and she jumped up, thinking maybe it was Tyrion.

It wasn't; it was Robb. Her big brother stood there, his auburn curls gleaming in the sun, his blue eyes so much like her own looking back at her. His gaze dropped to her neck - Joff's fingers had left marks - and she saw the cloud pass over his features. His jaw clenched and he lifted his gaze back up to hers. "Someone order a big brother?"

Sansa launched herself into his arms and he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. "Hey sis," he said, his voice warm and comforting. 

She started to cry. "Hey." She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Jeyne told you everything?" He nodded. "You're not going to give me a hard time about Jon?"

"Your young lover?" he asked with a smirk. She nodded. "No. Jeyne told me I had the car ride to get over it. I finished processing as soon as I hit the driveway. Very expeditious of me, isn't it?"

"Quite. Considering you never got over Old Yeller when we were kids."

He shuddered and then whispered, "How could you?"

"Think we could move this Mutual Adoration Society inside?" Jeyne called out from behind them. 

Sansa moved out of her brother's embrace and Robb stepped inside and shut the door. The infamous bat caught his eye against the wall and he lifted it up. "This the infamous bat you chased him to his car with?"

"One and the same," Jeyne said as she came over to her boyfriend. He pulled in her in for a quick kiss with one arm and smiled. "Bat wielding women are my favorite."

"You say that now when you're not on the business end of it."

"Good point." Robb put the bat back up against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So. San. You're gonna call the cops, right?"

xxxxxxxxxx

"I told you, Jon, I'm always on your side," Lyanna said as she reached over and covered his hands with hers. "Sansa is...going to take some time. I can't stop you no matter how much I want to from pursuing this. But I also know that if I push you to give her up, you're just going to dig in your heels."

Jon nodded in agreement. His phone, which had been silent the whole time, rang. He looked over and saw that it was Benjen. Relief flooded through him. "Mom, I have to get this. It's Benjen."

Lyanna pulled her hands back. "I understand."

Jon picked up the phone and got up from the table, heading for his bedroom. "Ben," he answered. "Man, I have been—"

"Is my Mom okay?"

"No, Ben, she's not okay. She's upset—"

"What did he do to her? Did he hit her?"

Jon felt a chill go through his body, as though someone had come along and wrapped him up in a cold blanket. 

"Jon? What did my Dad do to her?"

"I don't know, Ben," Jon said, his tone cool, like a rumble. Like a warning. "I'm not with her. I came home and tried to get in touch with you. What do you think he did—" 

"I have to go," Benjen said and hung up. 

Jaw clenched, Jon stormed into the kitchen and grabbed his keys off the counter. "I need to see Sansa. Something happened with her ex." 

He started for the door, but Lyanna grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Jon, wait - maybe it's not a good idea if you go storming over there."

"That was Benjen, Mom,” Jon said, his voice rising. “He thought I was with her and asked if she was _hurt_. He did something to her and I need to see her!”

Lyanna heaved a sigh. "Then I'm coming with you. If she is hurt, well, I'm a nurse. I can see what she'll need. And I'll drive. You're upset."

Jon nodded, fearing the worry and the rage flowing through him might very well take him under. 

xxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe you're not going to call the cops," Robb sighed as he hunched over on the couch. "Jesus, San. Look at your fucking neck! He _attacked_ you!" 

"Yeah, and he's a _Lannister_. Cersei probably already has an attorney all set and ready just in case I make the call."

"So? Do you remember how you wiped the floor with his ass when you took him to court for custody of Benjen?" Robb asked. 

"I remember it cost me a small fortune. Besides, there's Benjen to consider. I don't want to add this to the pile of shit he's already got to deal with."

"Sansa, Joffrey was _choking_ you," Jeyne jumped in. "At best you should get a fucking restraining order!"

Sansa sighed and sat down next to her brother. "The idea of him coming back here does creep me out."

"Let's go to the courthouse right now then," Robb said. "I know people."

Jeyne jerked her thumb in Robb's direction and rolled her eyes from where she was sitting in Sansa's rocking chair across the room. "Listen to him. He 'knows' people."

"I do!" Robb burst out indignantly. 

Sansa sat back and leaned her head back on the back of the couch. "It feels like it should be nighttime. What time is it?"

"Two," Jeyne answered. 

"Christ," Sansa muttered

Robb leaned back with her against the couch and patted her leg. "So, I'm totally over it and everything, but just for shits and giggles why don't you tell me about this young Casanova you've been bedding?"

"Bedding? The Middle Ages called," Jeyne said, "They want their phrases back."

Robb shot her a glare. "San?"

"He's eighteen, hot, smart, passionate about... _everything_ , doesn't like the word 'no', and he claims to love me."

"Claims to. You don't think he really does?"

Sansa heaved a sigh. "I don't know, Robb. He's eighteen."

"Sansa doesn't trust it," Jeyne said. "I mean, she was married to Joffrey. Can you imagine why she would ever doubt the opposite sex with that stellar example of manhood?"

Sansa flipped her friend off without even looking at her. 

"I want to meet him," Robb said. 

"So you can threaten him?" Sansa asked. 

"Well, yeah. But I also just want to see how he is with you. If he's legit."

"Well, I think you're about to have your chance..." Jeyne murmured. "He's here. And he's either got another woman and this is about to get hella awkward, or that's his Mom...which is still incredibly awkward."

"Great. Does she want to choke me too?" Sansa muttered as she pushed herself up off the couch. Jon came flying through the door a second later, looking frantic. His gaze darted from Robb to Jeyne and then on Sansa. He rushed forward, reaching for her, and then dropped his hands when he saw her neck. His hands balled into fists at his sides. 

“Joffrey did that?" His eyes were blazing with rage. His nostrils flared. 

Sansa nodded and frowned. "How did you find out?" Lyanna walked in then and Sansa watched her warily. 

"I'm going to kill him," Jon whispered. 

"Get in line," Robb said. He looked over at Lyanna. “Hi, Jon’s Mom? I’m Robb, Sansa’s brother.” He held out his hand. Lyanna, looking a bit amused shook his hand. “Lyanna,” she said. 

Robb smiled. “This is really awkward isn’t it?”

“Quite,” Lyanna said. 

“I’m Jeyne, Robb’s girlfriend and Sansa’s best friend,” Jeyne said, stepping forward and holding out her hand. “I’ve met Jon a few times.”

Lyanna shook Jeyne’s hand and then went over to Sansa. “Could I have a look at your neck?”

Sansa nodded and lifted her chin, pushing her hair from her shoulders. She heard Jon swear. 

“Is it tender when I press on your neck like this?” Lyanna asked. 

“Yeah,” Sansa said with a wince. 

“Well, your voice sounds fine so that’s a good thing. I don’t think he’s crushed your windpipe either. I would take some ibuprofen for the swelling and to ease pain for later,” Lyanna suggested. 

Sansa dipped her head back down and looked at her with a tremulous smile. “Thank you, Lyanna.”

Lyanna nodded. Jon moved forward and gripped Sansa’s hand. “Sweetheart, how about we get that ibuprofen?”

“Uh, sure I—”

“Benjen and Tyrion are here,” Jeyne announced. 

The door opened and in came Tyrion and Benjen. Benjen made a beeline for his mother, barely acknowledging Jon. “Mom?” he asked, his voice shaky and his blue eyes welling up in tears. He stared at her neck. “Dad…he did that?”

Sansa nodded. “I’m sorry, Benjen.”

“Why are you sorry? He’s the one that did it.”

“Hey, I have a great idea everyone who is not Sansa and Benjen,” Robb said loudly. “Why don’t we go outside and wait for the next person to show up?”

“Is someone else expected?” Jeyne asked confusion. 

“Today I learned to expect the unexpected. And this is apparently the place to be today,” Robb said. “Come on everyone, it’ll be fun! We can hide in the bushes and yell surprise should anyone else pull in the driveway!”

Benjen shook his head, glancing over his shoulder as everyone filed outside. He looked at his mom with a slight smile. “Uncle Robb’s a dork, right?”

“The biggest,” Sansa said with a smile. 

“Mom,” Benjen whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know Dad would… I didn’t expect this.”

“There are things about your father, Benjen…things I never told you before.”

“Are those things the reason Uncle Tyrion and Uncle Bronn have to be with me when I visit him?”

“Yes.”

“He drinks,” Benjen murmured. “Never too much when I’m there, but I get the impression from Margaery and Uncle Tyrion that he does it a lot more when I’m not there.”

Sansa frowned. “I’m not sure I like that he was drinking when you are there.”

“Like I said, not a lot. A couple glasses of wine. That’s all. But the comments Uncle Tyrion would make and how Margaery hovered over him…I knew he drank more when I wasn’t around.”

“Has he ever done anything to make you afraid of him?” Sansa asked, fearing the answer. 

“No…but you know how you can just tell someone probably has a dark side? Like a real dark side where they could just fucking snap? I always got that feeling with Dad. I guess today I wanted that. I wanted someone to understand how angry I was and to be angry with me.” His eyes welled up in tears. “But I never thought he’d do this, Mom.”

“Oh, honey. Why would you? I didn’t even expect it.” She reached down and took his hands in hers. “Listen, we can send everyone home and get a pizza or something and have a chat if you want. Or not, if you don’t—”

“Honestly, I just kind of want to go back to school,” Benjen murmured. 

Sansa pursed her lips together. “Maybe stay? Get some rest? Let things settle and we can talk tomorrow.”

“I think I need some time to sort it all out. Being here isn’t going to help me do that.”

Sansa heaved a sigh and nodded. It killed her, his desire to leave, but at the same time she understood. He’d had a rough day. So had she. And it was only fucking two. 

“Will Jon stay here tonight? Or Uncle Robb and Aunt Jeyne?” Benjen asked. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight, Mom, just in case Dad comes back. If you want me to stay just for that I will.”

“No, honey, I’ll be fine. I’m sure if I ask Uncle Robb to stay he will. Or I could go to Gramma’s.”

Benjen nodded, threw his arms around her in a fierce hug, and then practically ran out of the house. Feeling she was going to cry yet again, Sansa swallowed past the lump in her throat and made her way to the bathroom. Everyone else could find their way in at some point. She got the ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet and was not surprised when it was Jon who came to her just as she’d swallowed the pills. 

She turned to face him and he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She sobbed into his shoulder and he stroked her hair. Not a word was said, but not a word needed to be.


	14. Chapter 14

“Benjen mentioned he was going back to school,” Jon said softy as he held Sansa in his arms.

She nodded, her head resting against his shoulder.

“Are things better than this morning with him?”

She nodded again.

“Baby girl…what happened with Joffrey? Can you tell me?”

She pulled back to look at him and he tucked some hair behind her ear. His gaze drifted to her neck and his expression darkened. She explained to him about how Joffrey had seemed almost gleeful in discovering her affair with Jon. “But it was a dark kind of gleeful. Like someone who got off on watching someone in pain,” she said. “He kept saying how he’d been waiting for me to fall from grace and for people to see me for who I really am. I told him that he was the one that had hit me and had affairs, and he said I was full of shit.” 

She shook her head and pushed out of Jon’s arms. She turned to the sink and turned it on. She splashed some cold water on her face and then patted it try with a nearby towel. She folded her arms across her chest and folded into herself. “I think it’s possible he’s convinced himself those things never happened.”

“And then what?” he asked gently. 

“I told him that what made me a better parent than him was that I was worried about Benjen and he was more concerned with what I was doing.” There was anger in her voice, and fire in her eyes. He could see she was reliving that moment, and then her expression shuttered. “He just…lunged at me. Wrapped his hand around my throat and kept squeezing until Jeyne came running out with a baseball bat.”

"Thank God for Jeyne," Jon breathed, his gaze glued to her neck. 

Self-conscious, Sansa moved some hair around her shoulders in an attempt to hide the marks. 

"He's going to pay for that," Jon murmured.

"Don't you dare do anything," Sansa said warningly. "Robb's convinced me to get a restraining order and really that is all I can handle right now. I don't need you or anyone else going after Joffrey and getting into trouble over it. He's a Lannister, he will make trouble for you, especially his mother."

Jon’s jaw started to ache with how tightly he had it clenched. "I'm staying here until I'm certain that you're safe."

"What about your Mom?"

He furrowed his brow. "What about her?"

"Jon, I don't want to upset her. And I'm assuming you told her based on the fact that she's here. Does she want to have a chat with me?"

"Eventually, I'm sure, but no, not today. She came with me because Benjen called thinking I was with you and asked if you were okay. He didn't tell me straight out that Joffrey did something, but he asked if you were hurt. I told her I was coming to see if you were okay, and she came with just in case you were. She's a nurse, and helping people is what she does."

"Somehow that just makes me feel worse," Sansa muttered. 

"Why? It's a good thing she came, no? She might not be happy about us, but she came anyway because she knows I love you—"

"Stop, please. You're just making it worse."

"Why?" he asked, bewildered. 

"Because I'm the cougar who has been fucking her son and she comes here to help out in case I'm hurt! I think I would have preferred it if she laid into me. Now I just feel even guiltier defiling you – why are you laughing?"

"Defiling me?" he said, laughing. "You have not defiled me, Sansa. I think in fact _I've_ taught _you_ a few things."

She frowned. "Yeah, you have. He who claims he was a virgin when we first had sex."

"I was. I just have an active imagination when it comes to the things I want to do to you," he said with a lecherous waggle of his brows. "Plus, I guess I'm adventurous. And I watch porn. It gives me ideas." He snagged her around the waist and drew her close. "Stop making it sound like what we're doing is dirty."

"It _is_ dirty. You're so young and—"

"Shut up," he whispered and kissed her gently, almost as though he was afraid to hurt her. “You told me you loved me last night. Did you not meant it?”

She opened her mouth to answer when there was a rap at the door. Jon tried not to growl at whoever it was to go the fuck away. He’d really wanted to hear the answer to his question and, also, she needed rest. He wondered if he could somehow get rid of everyone and have her lay down with him for a while. He was here now; he could and would take care of her. 

"San? You okay?"

"I'm okay, sorry, just needed to take something," she said as she moved around Jon and opened the door. It was her brother. Robb looked down at Sansa, and then at Jon, and then back at her again. 

"I didn't interrupt?" he asked. 

"No," Sansa said at the same time Jon said, "Yes."

Sansa shot him a look and Robb frowned. "If you want to get a restraining order, we have some time to file one," Robb said. "I made a call. If we get down there now, we can be in and out. Lyanna suggested you take pictures of your neck to present in case you want to press charges after."

"It's not a bad idea," Lyanna's disembodied voice drifted over to them. "Just in case something happens later on." She appeared beside Robb. "You'll have proof then. I see this sort of thing a lot, unfortunately."

Sansa nodded, looking overwhelmed. Jon felt his irritation begin to grow. She needed rest. The pictures could be taken today and he could take her to get the restraining order on Monday. Not that she was going to need it since Jon didn’t plan to leave her. She didn’t know it yet, but he was planning on bringing a few things over to get her used to the idea of having him there. 

"Okay,” Sansa said slowly. “Is Tyrion still here?"

"He left, but said for you to call him later," Robb replied. 

"Okay, let me just grab my purse."

"I'll go with you, too," Jon said, placing his hand on her back. 

Sansa shook her head. "No, Jon, it's okay. You should go home with your Mom. Robb can take me."

She was dismissing him. Shielding him, perhaps? It made him think of what his Mom had said earlier about having to deal with things like her relationship with her son and an ex-husband. Instead of considering that they were together (and who the fuck knew if she even considered them together at this point) ,and that he might want to be with her through these things, she was instead keeping him out of it. As though he was a kid who couldn't handle it. Or thought of him as a kid who _shouldn't_ be. 

Well, he wasn't about to be so easily dismissed and sent home with his Mommy as though he was a child. "No, Sansa, I'm coming with you to get the restraining order." He looked at Robb. "Will we be taking your car?"

Robb looked surprised, and he darted a glance at Sansa who said nothing, but Jon could tell she was silently fuming. "Uh, sure."

"Great. I'll meet you both out front then," Jon said and headed out, his mother following him. 

He was fuming as well, though he didn't want to blow up at Sansa or anyone in her family. So, he went outside to wait for her, passing Jeyne who was in the kitchen. 

Once he and his mother were outside he threw up his arms. "Do you see? Do you see what she did? She deliberately tried to keep me from going with her, from being here for her."

His mother sighed, her hands on her hips. "Jon, I'm imagining that with all that's happened today she is overwhelmed. And I'm sure that my being here is not helping. No doubt she has more of a conscience than I gave her credit for and is feeling guilty about you."

"I can do without her fucking guilt,” Jon said hotly. “I can do without her pushing me away and treating me like a kid. I'm her boyfriend, Mom. I'm here for the long haul, and I thought we were on the same page. She told me she loved me last night!”

"Jon, calm down,” Lyanna said and put her hands on his shoulders. “Breathe.” He just looked at her, not at all in the mood to calm down. “Jon, breathe with me right now. Deep breaths.” He humored her, but felt no less calm when he’d taken the deep breaths. All he could think was how he wanted to bash Joffrey’s head in, and how he wanted to just have Sansa lay down with him and get some rest. “

“The last thing she needs is for you to get angry with her,” his mother said, and then shook her head, bewildered. "What am I doing? Am I actually giving you advice on how to handle this?"

Jon laughed softly. “You are.” 

“I can see how she loves Benjen,” Lyanna said. “And I always thought he was a good boy. That comes from somewhere, and it’s certainly not from his father.”

“Just like me being a good boy is from you and not Dad?”

Lyanna grimaced. “There is more of your father in you than you realize, Jon. The way you are about Sansa? It’s like your father pursuing me all over again.”

He scowled. “Except I don’t plan to leave her.”

His mother sighed. “Jon…”

“Don’t,” he said sternly. “Just don’t tell me how I’m young and I could still meet someone my age.”

“Well, so could she. Meet someone her age I mean.”

 _I’d kill him_ , Jon thought. 

The front door opened and out came Robb, Jeyne, and Sansa. “I’ll stop by later with Sansa’s car and grab a few things,” Jon told Lyanna. “I’m staying with her tonight.”

Lyanna sighed. “I figured as much.” She hugged her son quickly, and then Jon jogged over to Robb’s car, where Sansa was waiting to be let in at the backseat. 

She looked at him, brows furrowed, and then looked past him to his Mom who was getting into her own car. “Jon, you don’t have to do this,” she said. 

“Yes, I do,” he said softly and cupped the side of her face, making her look at him. She looked pained, but she leaned into him and nodded. “Okay.”

He kissed her forehead and then jogged to the other side of the car and waited to be let in. 

xxxxxxxx

It didn’t take long when all was said and done. They were in and out just as Robb had said they would be. And with the piece of paper in her hand that said Joffrey couldn’t get near her for the next ten days, Sansa just stared at it as though she couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Jon, you need a ride home or something?” Robb asked once they’d gotten back in the car. 

“Nope. You can just take me to Sansa’s,” he replied as he reached over in the backseat and took Sansa’s hand in his. She leaned her head back against the seat and looked about ready to fall asleep when they reached the house. 

Jon quickly got out and went around to Sansa’s side to help her out. “I’m not an invalid,” she grumbled. 

“I’m taking care of you,” he said simply. “Let me.”

She sighed but didn’t argue. Robb left the car running as he and Jeyne got out of the car. “You need anything?” Robb asked her. “Pizza? Liquor? Joffrey’s head on a pike?”

“The last one,” she said with a tired smile. “Go home. You’ve done enough. I’m going to bed now anyway.”

Robb and Jeyne glanced at Jon and Jon rolled his eyes. “She needs rest,” he groused. “Come on, San,” he said, pushing her gently towards the house. 

Quickly, Sansa darted away and hugged her brother and then Jeyne. “I love you guys so much, thank you,” she said tearfully. 

“We love you too,” Jeyne said with a smile as she tucked some hair behind Sansa’s ear. “Now get some rest.”

Robb looked at Jon as though he wanted to say something, but then he just shook his head and headed to the driver’s side. Jeyne went to her own car, and soon they were off. 

Sansa allowed Jon to push her up to the house and then down to her bedroom. He got her to sit down on the bed and he knelt at her feet and took off her shoes. “Do you want to change, beautiful?” he asked. 

She nodded. “I want my jammy jams.”

He laughed softly as he made his way to the drawer where he knew she kept her pajamas. “Which ones?”

“My blue bottoms with the clouds and just one of the tank tops in that drawer, please,” she said with a yawn. 

Jon got her ‘jammy jams’ out and he helped her change, despite her protests that she could do it on her own. Then he kicked off his shoes, shut the blinds, and then helped her into bed. He crawled in after her and spooned up against her back, pulling her back against him. 

He kissed her shoulder and the back of her neck. “Rest, my love,” he murmured. 

She didn’t fight him. She just closed her eyes, and soon she was fast asleep. 

Once he was sure she was, Jon slipped out of her bed and looked down at her. There were still shafts of light in the room, and he could see the marks on her neck clearly. They might as well have been neon with the way they stood out to him. 

Without a word, he picked up his shoes, and headed down the hall. He slipped them on, and then grabbed the composite bat by the door. He then made his way to the kitchen and slipped out to the porch. 

He made his way down the porch steps, past the pool, and down to the woods that butted up against Sansa’s property. He walked deep into the woods until he could barely make out the house. 

And then he whaled on a sturdy oak tree with the bat. He hit the tree again and again and again, letting his rage out over what Joffrey had done. He didn’t stop until he was out of breath and his arms ached from the exertion. He felt callouses beginning to form on his hands. With one last smack against the tree, he stopped and headed for the house. He put the bat back, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then shucked off his jeans and t-shirt and slipped back into bed with Sansa. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent, and then, finally, drifted off with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to whomever had the idea to have Sansa take pictures of her neck!!


	15. Chapter 15

Sansa rolled over in bed, fighting wakefulness, and felt the solid wall of Jon beside her in bed. She hummed, rubbing her feet together and tilted her head back slightly on the pillow. The covers were down around her waist and she felt warm. A bit too warm. She opened her eyes and found Jon looking down at her, a soft smile on his gorgeous face. The blinds were still shut, but the light from the street lamp outside slipped through the sides of the windows and illuminated him just enough. Obviously, the curtains hadn't been shut. 

"What time is it?" she mumbled. 

"Nine," he replied, stroking a hand through her tangled hair. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know," she murmured. "I'm not awake yet." She curled into him, tucking her head under his chin. "How long have you been awake?" she asked into his chest. 

"A little while."

"You didn't have to stay in bed."

"I wanted to. I like holding you."

She smiled somewhat sadly even though he couldn't see her do it. Then her smile fell. "I was harsh with you," she said finally. 

He shifted slightly on the bed and it creaked. "Not harsh per se, but you did try to send me home more than once."

She sighed. "Your Mom was here. I felt guilty. I kept thinking of how I would feel if I was in her shoes. Turns out she's a better person than I am because she came to help."

"We need someone on our side, don't you think?"

Now she looked up at him. "Is she? On our side?"

"Wellll...."

She frowned. "Yeah. See?"

Jon gathered her back up in his arms. "She's not completely on our side, but she's not actively against us either. It'll take her some time to adjust, but she will."

Sansa laughed softly. "You're so... _optimistic_ about everything."

"Someone has to be," he said pointedly. 

With a groan, Sansa rolled onto her back and kicked off the covers. "I think I need some time to adjust too."

"You don't say."

"What is it you want of me, Jon?"

"I want you to stop pushing me away at the first sign of trouble. Benjen walking in and finding us how he did was pretty bad, but you immediately tried to end it—"

"He's my son, Jon."

"Sansa," he began as he sat up in bed. He reached over and turned her nightstand lamp on. Sansa sat up as well, moving so that she was more on what she supposed was "her side" of the bed now, and turning to get a better look at him. She didn't remember him undressing, but now he was bare aside from his blue boxers. "Sansa," he said again, "If you act like I'm your dirty little secret, or just your boy toy on the side, then everyone else will treat our relationship that way. If you're willing to jump ship at the first sign of trouble, then no one will take us seriously. Do _you_ take us seriously?"

"I was afraid to lose my son, Jon. I was afraid he was going to leave here and never talk to me again."

"Even I know Benjen would not do that."

"All right, listen, can you just give me a small break here? This is a lot easier for you than it is for me."

He gaped at her. "How?"

"What do you mean how?" she exclaimed. "You're the young buck who landed a MILF. You get a pat on the back and a lot of," she lowered her voice," 'good for you, man, you get a woman in her prime. She's gotta be horny; you'll get to fuck her six ways to Sunday'."

"Are you saying that you don't get any of that either? That you don't get me in _my prime_ and that you get to show me all these epic sex positions that I, the 'young buck' only dreamed of until now? The articles I read made it sound like I was just a mound of clay waiting for you to mold me. And not just for sex, but my young impressionable mind too."

"I would never describe you as impressionable."

"That's not the point, Sansa."

She tilted her head to the side and looked at him in question. "You read articles?"

"Yes, about a younger man dating an older woman and you know what? Both sides have their pros and cons. The cons being I'm some moron with a hard-on and you're a predator."

She threw up her hands. "Thank you!"

"But you're _not_ a predator," he said, his voice rising. "I told my mother today, multiple times, that I was the one that pursued you. We're in a relationship, Sansa. You told me you loved me. That doesn't mean you fucking dump me when things go south. And it doesn't mean that you try to protect me or shut me out when you're going through something. My job today was to be here for you and you tried to send me away with my Mommy like I was a fucking five-year old!"

"You're swearing an awful lot."

"Because I'm pissed!" he shouted and climbed off the bed. He jutted his hand out, gesturing to her, his body rigid with anger. "Your fucking ex-husband came over and _choked_ you, Sansa! Did you honestly think that I'd want to be anywhere else after that? I'm not just your lover, I'm your _partner_." 

She sighed and nodded. "Okay, okay. You're right. I'm sorry - I just - I need to get used to having someone there for me. I'm not used to it at all, and all I wanted was to - well, to not have everybody hate me."

"You were prepared for push-back, or at least it seemed that you were when you kept trying to put us on hold.” He sounded bitter about that; he probably was bitter about that. 

He practically lunged onto the bed to crawl over to her. He carded one hand through her hair and drew her face up to his. Sansa reached up, putting her hands on his shoulders when he captured her lips in a deep kiss. "Please trust me that we can get through this, but only if we work together and show everyone that we are together. I don't want to be your bitch boy—"

She giggled at that and he laughed softly. "Like that, did you?"

She nodded and ran the tips of her fingers along his face. "You're not my bitch boy. You'll never be my bitch boy."

He smirked and kissed her mouth quickly. "Well, never say never. There was a moment last night when you got a little demanding. I can't say I hated it. Maybe sometime we can explore that."

"Yes, you're definitely the one showing _me_ all the positions."

He laughed and pushed her carefully down onto bed. He hovered over her, braced up on his hands and knees. His gaze drifted to her neck and his expression darkened. "How does your neck feel?"

"A little tender," she murmured and arched it to one side. "Kiss it and make it better?"

"I don't want to hurt you," he said hoarsely. 

"You won't."

Jon leaned down, and gently brushed a kiss against one bruise. He looked up at her and she nodded, eyes closed, with a smile on her face. Encouraged, he brushed more gentle kisses along her neck and when he was done, he lifted his head and looked down at her. She stared back at him with that same soft smile. "Thank you," she murmured. "Jon?"

He smiled. "Yes, sweet girl?"

"I've had a really bad day..."

"I know, baby."

She spread her hands over his smooth chest and felt him shiver just a touch. She looked up at him, the picture of innocence. "Will you make me feel better? I just want to feel good for a while..."

"If we have sex that means I'm still your boyfriend tomorrow, Sansa."

She giggled. "No take backs?"

"Sansa, I mean it. No more trying to end our relationship."

She sighed, nodded and looked up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Jon. But I do need you to cut me some slack. There's a lot going on right now and my head isn't quite on right."

"Do you love me?"

She smiled; beamed really. "Yes."

"Say it."

"I love you, Jon."

He lay down on top of her and she spread her legs, allowing him to fit between them. He pressed his growing erection against her center and she moaned as she speared her fingers through his hair. "I do love you," she murmured. "I do."

He kissed her hungrily, licking the seam of her mouth. She opened her mouth and their kiss deepened. She thought she might just melt into the bed under the force of his passion. 

He quickly moved off of her, rolling to the side to rid himself of his boxers, and then he was yanking her pajama bottoms down and then her panties. Sansa managed to get her tank top off and when she was bare for him, Jon just stopped and stared at her. His eyes ran over every part of her making her squirm, and while he looked his fill, he stroked his cock. 

"You gonna fuck me or what?" she teased as she fondled her breasts. 

He groaned. "Depends. You gonna put on a show for me? Spread your lips, baby. Show me how wet you are."

Biting her bottom lip, Sansa snaked a hand down her body to her folds. She spread her legs further and spread her nether lips, showing him her pussy. 

"You're wet," he murmured. "But you could be wetter." He got down on his stomach and hooked her legs over his shoulders. He licked at her, gathering up her juices on his tongue. "Watch me love you, Sansa..."

She smiled softly as she ran her fingers through his curls. 

"I want you to wet my beard," he murmured and started licking at her. 

He brought her to the brink again and again with his mouth until Sansa was writhing under his skillful tongue and begging him for release. He finally granted it to her when he sucked her clit into his mouth. 

She cried out, her legs going taut, and her hands gripping his hair tightly. She sagged against the bed, letting Jon move her like a ragdoll the way he wanted her. He kissed his way up her body, making goosebumps form on her skin. When she felt the head of his cock against her pussy, she reached for him and pulled him to her. 

“Does someone want me?” he asked, his voice a rumble as he tweaked her nipples. 

“I always want you,” she said breathlessly. “That’s what started all this.”

“Oh, really?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t know I wanted you,” she said, moaning when he slid his hard cock against her clit. 

“I didn’t. Not at first. You rejected me when I worked up the nerve to say something.”

Her laugh was husky with want and need. “So slick you were too, asking me if I had a bikini…Jon, fuck me…”

He placed the head of his cock at her entrance and pushed in slowly. “Were you watching me from the window that day, Sansa?”

She nodded, licking her lips as she watched him slide all the way inside her. He held himself there. “Look at me, baby.”

She looked up at him and he placed his thumb on her clit as he spoke, gently strumming it. “Did you play with yourself and think of me then, Sansa?”

She bit her lip and nodded. His eyes were as black as night. “Christ,” he muttered and put his elbows down on either side of her head down by her shoulders. He pushed up and she lifted her legs to wind around him. He sank inside her deeper, his cock sliding against her clit just right. She gripped his sides. “Like that, Jon,” she gasped. 

“Keep your eyes on me, baby,” he murmured and she looked up at him. 

His eyes on hers, Jon felt himself getting swept under. It was as though she was a siren pulling him out to sea, drowning him, making him hers for eternity. He felt her in every breath and pump of his heart. He would fight for her. He would kill for her. He would do anything, risk anything, for her to be happy and safe and with him always. 

“I love you,” he gasped. 

“Mmmmm…..do you?” she whispered and slid her hands over his ass. 

He grunted, loving the feel of her hands on him. “Sansa.”

“Harder,” she whispered and met him hard thrust for hard thrust. The slapping of their skin and their heavy breathing was the only sound in the air. 

All too soon, Jon felt his release coming. “Squeeze me like that, Sansa. Just like that…I love it when that tight little pussy clenches around me...”

“Jon,” she moaned, gliding her nails up his back. 

“Harder,” he commanded. “Mark me as yours… _harder_ …that’s it, that’s my girl.” He bowed his head until their lips just grazed, and their breath mingled. “This close…I want to be this close to you always….” 

“Jon,” she whimpered and it was like a symphony to his ears. 

“Tell me what you want, sweet girl….tell me….”

“You,” she said, her nails digging into his back and her back arching. “Jon!”

“Fuck, you’re cumming, fuck….look at you, look how perfect you are, how fucking gorgeous…you’re squeezing me so tight my dick is gonna snap off…Sansa! Fuck!” Buried to the hilt inside her, Jon came, feeling lightheaded. 

When he collapsed against her, he stuck his face in the bed over her collarbone so he didn’t hurt her neck. Every part of her was pressed against every part of him and he was still buried inside her, his dick pulsing almost to the point of pain. 

“Like this,” he murmured. “Just like this…always.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter yet!

The following morning, fully dressed, Jon heard the floor creak behind him and he glanced over from where he was making pancake batter and found Sansa standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She was in her pajamas, her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she was rubbing her eyes. Her mouth was puckered into a pout, the way it usually was in the morning.

She looked adorable.

Jon put the whisk down and wiped his hand on a nearby dish towel before heading over to her. She stepped into the kitchen and he wrapped an arm about her waist and drew her into him. “Good morning, beautiful,” he murmured.

She smiled sleepily. “Good morning, handsome.”

He grinned and kissed her slowly, moaning softly. He pulled back before passion got the better of him and asked, “How’s your neck?”

“Bruised.” She tilted her head back to show him, and Jon felt his body go rigid at the sight of the darkened purple marks on her neck. She sighed. “And sore. I just took something.” She peered over his shoulder. “What are you making?”

“Pancakes and bacon. The coffee is on too.”

“Mmmmm,” she hummed as she pulled out of his arms and made her way over the counter, looking over the broken eggs, carton of milk, butter, and packaged powdered batter mix. “Do you need some help?” she asked.

“No,” he replied as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder. “How do you feel this morning?”

She yawned loudly. “Still tired. How can I still be tired?”

“Yesterday was a big day.”

“Indeed,” she murmured.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked.

She huffed out a laugh. “Try not to obsess about Benjen, which will be impossible, try not to worry at all actually while I attempt to do absolutely nothing."

“Nothing it is then. After breakfast I need to go home and get a few things. I don’t want you alone here, so I thought you could come with me and just get your car and come back here so you don’t have to talk to my Mom.”  
That was met with silence.

“Sansa?” he prompted.

She pushed out of his arms and turned to look up at him. “Okay, here’s the thing.”

He arched a brow. “The thing?”

She put her hands on his chest. “Yes. The thing is you need to ask. While it’s true that we are a couple – see that? I said it! – that doesn’t mean it’s always just assumed that we’re always going to be doing something - or nothing - together. What if I wanted you to go home so I could be alone?”

He shook his head. “Not after yesterday, San—”

“Jon,” Sansa said softly, but firmly. “Joffrey has by now been served with that restraining order.”

“I’m not taking any chances. That guy is a prick. I wouldn’t put it past him to violate it.”

“You’re missing the point, Jon.”

His eyes narrowed. “What is the point then?”

She tugged on the scruff of his beard at his chin. “Pay attention,” she said firmly.

“I’m listening.”

“You can’t just assume things. You didn’t ask if I wanted you to stay with me today. You just assumed that was a foregone conclusion. Second, in the event I go with you to your house to get a few things, I’m not going to run off like some kind of criminal. Doesn’t that go against the very thing you just said to me last night about being a united front?”

He sighed. “Yes, it does. But you went through a lot yesterday, and I know that talking to my mother is not something you’re going to put off indefinitely. Just until you feel better.”

“Jon.”

He smirked. “Sansa.”

“What have we learned in class today?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Sansa, may I spend the day with you today?”

She pecked his nose. “I’ll let you know after breakfast.” And she pulled out of his arms and almost made it to the coffee pot when Jon spun her around and kissed her long and hard and deep. He then lifted her up and plopped her down on the table.

“Sansa,” he said, his voice a rumble, “May I spend the day with you today?”

She laughed. “I already gave you my answer. Now you need to respect it and wait.”

He kissed her until she was breathless and arching into him. He broke the kiss, leaving her panting and dizzy. “May I spend the day with you today?” he rasped.

She wound her arms around his neck and drew him close. She kissed him and he moaned, clutching at her, pressing her into him. She then dropped kisses along his cheek and then tugged on his earlobe with her teeth. He groaned and his arms tightened around her.

“I’ll let you know after breakfast,” she whispered in his ear.

Jon groaned and dropped his forehead to her shoulder. Sansa giggled and ran her fingers through his curls. “Guess what though, honey?” she asked.

He lifted his head and looked down at her. He was pouting, and it was quite adorable. “What?” he asked.

She smiled. “I love you.”

He dove at her, causing her to fall back just a bit before he caught her, and kissed her again. “I love you, too,” he whispered. “San…”

“Hmmm?”

“I suppose now would be a good time to tell you that the things I want to get? I wanted to bring some clothes over here. I want to stay with you for a while.”

She dropped her hands and looked at him. “Jon. Were you ever going to tell me that part?”

“I’m telling you now?” he said as he lifted her hands and drew them back around him.

She narrowed her eyes. “Define a few days?”

He cleared his throat. “A week?”

She slipped her arms from him again. “You’re unbelievable. You were going to bring a week’s worth of stuff over here and just not tell me? Not _ask_ me?”

“I’m asking now.”

“Because I told you to!”

“Sansa, what will it hurt if I stay here with you for a while? Benjen’s at school and you’re all alone here. Joffrey is probably raging – I want to be here, love. Please.”

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Make me a really good breakfast and I’ll let you know.”

He pointed at her. “You’re mean.”

She burst out laughing. “And you’re a bully!”

He narrowed his eyes at her, but then turned back to the counter and set about making her breakfast. In the meantime, Sansa poured them both coffee and went to the deck to get some fresh air.

She did want him to stay, and truthfully, she did feel safer with him there. She didn’t necessarily put it past Joffrey to show up despite the restraining order.

However, she also felt as though she needed a break from people. Including her loving and persistent boyfriend. It was her fault, for letting him have his way for so long that he felt he didn't even have to ask what she wanted. Or, rather, he did ask but only if the something she wanted involved him. 

She gave into him because she wanted him. Because she loved him. He was just so…dominating. So very alpha male. And a rather large part of her found it kind of a turn on, much to her chagrin. She was a disgrace to feminists everywhere. But maybe some part of her liked being dominated? Or maybe it was just Jon and how he loved her so well. 

But still.

He couldn't make decisions like bring over a week's worth of stuff and practically move in without consulting her first! 

"San, breakfast is ready," Jon said, opening the screen door and poking his head out. 

She turned and smiled at him and made her way back inside. She settled down in one of the spots at the table he'd set and watched him bring over a plate of fluffy pancakes and then a plate of crispy bacon. The ketchup for her bacon, and the maple syrup for the butter were already out. Sansa stabbed a few pancakes and drew them over to her plate and began to prepare them, when Jon swept her feet up onto his lap. He was sitting across from her, but the table was small enough, and her legs long enough, that they stretched across the space. 

She looked at him; blinked. 

He shrugged and with one hand, caressed an ankle. "I just like touching you."

"Suck up," she said with a snort. 

He laughed. "I'm not sucking up. It's true."

Yeah, okay, she would give him that. It wasn't often he didn't find some way to touch her when they were together. 

They managed to make it through breakfast, avoiding the chaos currently surrounding them, and talked about every day things. When Sansa was done eating, she picked up her plate to bring it to the sink. Jon followed suit and as she started up the water in the sink to rinse the dishes for the dishwasher, Jon came up behind her, placed his dish in the sink, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll clean up, love," he said softly. "Go take a shower."

"Are you saying I stink?"

"No," he laughed, "I'm saying it'll make you feel better."

"You're right," she said with a sigh and turned to kiss him. And saw her mother standing in the kitchen doorway. She jumped a mile. "Mom! Holy crap!"

Catelyn Stark, her hair a darker shade of red than her daughters, blue eyes, high cheekbones, and a thin mouth turned into a frown, was a formidable woman. "I see the rumor is true then," she said, looking at Jon disapprovingly. "You've taken up with a _boy_." 

Sansa pulled out of Jon's arms, like a teenager being caught making out with her boyfriend, and stepped to the side. Jon reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. Then he released it and stepped toward her mother. "Hello. You must be Catelyn Stark. I've heard a lot about you."

"Nice manners. Do you think that will make me approve of this?" Catelyn asked. 

"Maybe knowing your daughter is happy, loves me, and is a grown woman who can make her own decisions would," Jon retorted. 

"Ok then," Sansa said, stepping forward and putting her hand on Jon's arm. "Jon, I got this. Why don't you go home for a bit?"

He looked at her, jaw clenched and fury in his eyes. She knew what he was thinking. She shook her head. "I'm just gonna talk to my Mom. I'll call you when I'm ready for you to come over, okay?"

"I need your car, San," he said. "I left mine at the house, remember?"

Sansa nodded. "Okay, okay, no problem. You can take my car. We'll sort it all out later."

He looked hesitant. Sansa looked over at her Mom. "Mom, excuse us for a minute." 

Catelyn rolled her eyes. "I'll help myself to some coffee. God knows I need to be more awake for this."

Sansa sighed, knowing this was going to be a difficult conversation, and led Jon by the hand to the front door. "I'm not making you leave because I don't want you here," she told him. "I just know my mother. I need to talk to her alone before she meets you again, and I promise she will meet you again."

Jon gathered her in his arms. "I feel like I'm leaving you to a she-wolf."

"You're not far off. My Mom can be like that. I'm sorry she was rude to you. My Mom is not like yours. She's...judgmental about a lot of things. I can tell she's on the ledge, and I need to talk her off of it. Whatever she's heard about us, and _how_...I just need to talk to her alone, okay?"

Framing her face in his hands, Jon kissed her. "I love you," he murmured. 

"I love you, too. I'll call you later."

He grinned. "Does that mean I can spend the night?"

"If you're going to be smug about it, no."

He laughed softly and kissed her again before grabbing the keys off the table near the door and with one last wave, left. 

Steeling herself, Sansa marched back into the kitchen. "All right, how did you find out about Jon?"

“Cersei. Lannister," her mother bit out, leaning against the counter. "In the grocery store. Do you know how upsetting that is?" Sansa saw her mother's gaze drift to her neck. She put her coffee cup down so fast on the counter some of it spilled onto the floor. "What happened to your neck?!" she exclaimed as she came closer to Sansa. "Please tell me this isn't some sex game with that young boy—"

"Mother, no. This," she pointed to her neck, "Was Joffrey after learning about Jon. I'm sure Cersei failed to mention that, or that I filed a restraining order on him for it."

Catelyn appeared to physically sag under the weight of this information. 

"Why don't you sit," Sansa said. "And I'll explain."

xxxxxxxx

Catelyn was leaning forward against the table, kneading her forehead with both hands and staring down at the table top. "I can't believe this. Sansa, I don't know where to begin." She looked up at her daughter. "You did wait, right? You're not lying to me? You did wait until that boy graduated before you slept with him?"

Sansa hated that she was in fact lying about that, but her and Jon had both agreed this was a lie that was for the best. "I'm not lying. And please, please, please, stop calling him 'that boy'. His name is Jon. I'm well aware that he's young, but you calling him 'that boy' just makes it all worse."

"Sansa, he's _eighteen_ and a _freshman in college_. Do you have any idea what your father would say about this? He's no doubt rolling in his grave right now."

Sansa hated to lose her temper with her mother. Catelyn Stark was a hard-ass, but she'd had to be. She'd had five kids and her husband had died before the last three were even out of the house. She had always been a strong-willed, heard-headed woman to begin with, but grief had hardened her even more. However, she had been using that line about her father rolling over in his grave on all of the Stark kids for years and it was old. It was emotional blackmail that worked, but Sansa was tired of it. 

"Regardless,” she said simply. “I love Jon and I'm not giving him up." 

Catelyn narrowed her eyes. "And what of Benjen? Have you considered his feelings?"

That was a low blow. "I've done nothing but consider his feelings, Mother. Have you not been listening to me?"

"I have. But I don't see you doing the right thing and cutting that boy loose. Instead, he's here this morning. What if Benjen wanted to come home again?"

"He went back to school."

"He's not that far away. He could have decided to come back."

Now all Sansa could think was how she could have put Benjen further away from her had he decided to come back and found Jon here yet again. But what was she supposed to do - stop everything for a just in case? Was she wrong in having Jon spend the night last night? Was she wrong in having him spend the night _that_ night? Was she being utterly selfish? 

"Your son comes first, Sansa," Catelyn continued. "What Joffrey did was wrong and I hope he rots, but your focus should be on Benjen and not the sexcapades you can have with that boy."

"He's not 'that boy'!" Sansa burst out in frustration. 

"What can he possibly do for you outside of the bedroom? What sort of intellectual stimulation is there to be had with an eighteen-year-old boy? You're not that hard up for sex and male attention, are you?"

It was as though all of Sansa's worst fears about how her relationship would be seen by others were all laid out for her by her mother. 

The thing was...instead of making her continue to doubt herself, the more her mother went on the more she wanted Jon with her, right there, in that moment. The more she wanted to feel his arms around her, hear his voice in her ear, and feel his love and his support. He might be young, but he loved her. She had never felt so loved in all her life as she did than when she was with him. 

_And she loved him._

Intellectual stimulation? Jon gave her that. He was a smart boy. Very smart. He knew his shit. And he actually listened to her when she talked - barring listening to her when she tried to tell him no he couldn't do something, of course. But they'd work on that. He made her feel alive. He made her feel loved. He made her feel like a sexy woman who had something to offer him. She wasn't a dried up spinster.

She wasn't her mother. 

"I think you should leave now," Sansa said softly. 

Catelyn looked surprised. "Pardon?"

"I think you should leave. I have things to do." _Like my boyfriend!_

"As stubborn as ever," Catelyn muttered and got up. She grabbed her purse off the table and looked down at Sansa who had her head bowed. "I didn't raise you to be a fool, Sansa. Don't disappoint me now."

And then she left. Sansa started to cry as she went in search of her phone. She wanted Jon. She just wanted Jon. When she found her phone in her bedroom, she called him. He answered right away, just as she knew he would. 

"Coast clear?" he said. 

"Yes," she answered. 

"Sansa, are you crying?" he asked, sounding alarmed. 

"Yes."

"I'll be right there, baby." He sounded angry on her behalf. 

While she waited, she quickly showered, and when she emerged from the bathroom, he was there, in her bedroom, waiting for her. She wore nothing but her bathrobe and when she saw him, changed into new clothes now, she lunged herself at him. He caught her up in his arms and held her tight. "Baby..." he murmured, pressing the side of his face against hers. ”What happened, my love?"

"My Mother is a bitter woman and I think she wanted me to be just like her," Sansa said, starting to cry again. She pulled back and looked up at him. His curls were damp and she reached up and wound a lock of his curly hair around her finger. "Jon, I want you to know that I think you're smart. That I love having conversations with you, and that you make me feel good about myself. When I'm with you, I feel like I am a better version of myself. You make me feel loved, you make me feel sexy, and you make me feel intelligent."

"Because you _are_ , Sansa," he murmured. "You are all those things and more."

"And so are you. I don't know if I ever told you any that."

"You haven't in recent memory," he murmured, and he actually looked as though he might cry himself. "I'm glad you told me."

She leaned up and kissed him. "I love you."

He groaned and kissed her again and again. "I love you," he gasped. "You've no idea how much, Sansa." He walked backwards, untying her robe. "I would do anything for you," he whispered. "I'd kill for you. I'd die for you."

"Ssshhhh, no dying, Jon."

He yanked her robe down her shoulders to the floor. "Get on the bed, baby. I need you."

"I need you too," she breathed and kissed him. She didn't get on the bed though. Instead, she helped him undress and when he was gloriously naked, she reached down to stroke his cock.

"On the bed," he rasped urgently. "Now."

She did as she was told this time, and as she was about to scoot back into the middle of it, he stopped her and dragged her to the edge of it and spread her legs. He stepped up to the bed and teased her slit with the head of his cock. Never had Sansa been so happy to have her mattress and bed spring so high up as now. "Are you wet for me, baby?" he asked. 

She nodded and slipped one hand down to her folds, teasing herself, showing him her cunt. He groaned, watching her and then brushed her hands away and pushed inside her. "My God, look at that," he said in wonder. "Look at how you take me in. Look at that pretty pink little pussy sucking me inside..."

Sansa got up on her elbows and looked. She liked the sight of his cock embedded inside her, seeing how they were joined. Then he started to move and she kept her eyes on the joining of their bodies. 

"You fit me so perfectly" he muttered as he thrust inside her. "Your little cunt stretches to make me fit...fucking hot little pussy gripping me...fuck, Sansa, we were made for this. Made for each other."

She looked up at him and nodded and he growled as he leaned over her and kissed her hard, pushing her back onto the bed as he started to pound into her. "You are my whole world," he muttered against her mouth. "Hold onto me, Sansa. I want to feel you touching me...yes, yes, just like that. Never let me go, okay? Never. I _need_ you. Don't ever forget that I need you."

"I need you too," she whispered. 

"Cum for me, baby, I need you to cum..." He slipped a hand down to her cunt and began to rub her clit with his thumb. "Come on, my sweet girl. My sweet Sansa..."

Sansa pressed her forehead against his, gripping his hair in her hands, unaware of how tight she was holding him.She cried out and he gasped, taking her cry into him. 

"That's it, let go, Sansa. Let go, baby..." he urged. 

"Jon!" she shouted and her head fell back against the bed. 

"Look at me," he growled. 

She looked up at him, dazed and blissed out, and he thrust inside her hard and held himself there. His eyes shut as he let out a roar, his body tensing and then jerking slightly as he came inside her. He fell against her, his head under her chin and she loosened her grip on his hair until she was combing her fingers through it. 

"All day," he murmured against her skin, licking the top of her breast. "I want you in my arms all day."

Sansa smiled. "I think that can be arranged."


	17. Chapter 17

After that round of sex, they both washed up and Jon dressed for the second time that day, while Sansa dressed for the first. They met in the kitchen and cleaned up breakfast together while Sansa relayed to him her visit with her mother. 

Jon didn't say much, but Sansa could tell by the set of his jaw and the steely firmness in his eyes that he was not pleased. 

"We knew there would be resistance, Jon," she told him. 

"Yeah, I know that, but I don't like the implication that you're a bad mother because you fell in love with me," he said. "You've done nothing but think of Benjen and put him first through all of this, Sansa. She was trying to guilt you into doing what she wanted you to do which was give me up. You already tried to do that yesterday."

Sansa hadn't really considered that, but she could see how it could be interpreted that way. The use of her father "spinning in his grave" over something one of her children did had always been meant to get them to act the way she wanted them to. However, Sansa didn't want to think of her mother as being so cruel as to actually do something like that. On the other hand, it was clear Catelyn disapproved so strongly of Jon and Sansa's relationship, it made sense that she would, perhaps, resort to a complete guilt trip to get her to stop seeing Jon. 

It hurt to think that her mother has purposefully been trying to manipulate her. Catelyn knew that Sansa's desire to make her parents proud had always been a driving force in her life. It was something all the Stark kids had in one way or another. The few times she had made them less than proud of her, she had thought the world was ending. Getting pregnant with Benjen had been a big ordeal, and after that Sansa had dedicated herself to being the best mother she could be to him. Part of it was the love a mother had for her son, and part of it, sadly, was to make her parents proud. As if to say - I messed up by getting pregnant, but look at what a good mother I am!

"I think I've spent my whole life trying to please my parents," she said, somewhat sadly. "What about you? You seem to have a great relationship with your Mom, but do you feel a driving need to please her?"

"I want to make her proud, of course I do, but my life is my own. The choices I make are for myself, not for her."

"Well, wait. What about the political science major? You told me in this very kitchen when all this began that your mother wanted you to pursue that but that you weren't sure about it. Isn't that about pleasing her?"

He sighed, and then laughed a little as she scratched the back of his neck, shutting one eye in a bit of a grimace. "Yeah, it was. Partly. Also, because I just didn't know what I wanted to do."

"Oh." Well then. Sansa didn't know why that struck her as bothersome. A lot of kids going into college didn't know what they wanted to do. 

A lot of _kids..._

Jon, who seemed so sure about everything - especially them - didn't know what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. It didn't match up. It served as a reminder that he was young still, _eighteen_ and a _freshman in college_ , as her mother had emphatically reminded her. It also made her wonder if as certain as he was now about them, would he always be? 

" _Stop it_. I know what you're thinking," he said, and dragged her into his arms. He kissed her forehead and held her tight in his embrace. "I may not know what I want to for a career for the rest of my life, but I do know that I want _you_ for the rest of my life."

But he couldn't know that. He could meet some amazing girl tomorrow. Maybe her mother on some level was right - maybe she was hard up enough to think that this could work. Or maybe this was just one of those things that you just didn't know in relationships. It could very well be her too that randomly met someone amazing who made her want to leave Jon. Or she could simply fall out of love with him. He could fall out of love with her. It happened all the time. Chances were increased, yes, due to his age, that he would be the one to go first, but neither one of them were impervious to something like that happening. It was a risk in every relationship, wasn't it? 

She could let the doubt and fear of it happening swallow her whole; she could let her past experiences color what she and Jon had now, or she could just _be_ with him. Isn't that what everyone did when they fell in love? They were just with the person, they didn't obsess over how or when it would end. That was just her. Her and her horrible track record. 

Jon moaned and pulled back to frame her face with his hands. He was visibly upset, and looked a little wild because of it. "Stop it," he said again, sounding desperate. "I can physically _feel it_ when you start to pull away from me. You're thinking I can't pick a major so how can I be so certain about us?"

"Jon, it's okay—"

"No, Sansa. I'll marry you right now—"

She pushed at him, but he wound his arms around her and wouldn't let go. "Jon, stop it. You don't have to marry me to prove anything—"

"I'm not going to marry you to prove fucking _anything_ , Sansa. I want to marry you because I _love_ you."

"Jon, it's okay. It is. I'm not going to obsess about it, okay? It's not...anything can happen. Anything at all. I put so much emphasis on you leaving me for someone else, but there's nothing that says I couldn't do the same—"

"Except I'd fucking kill him," he growled. 

"Jon!" she exclaimed and put her hands on either side of his face. "Look at me." His gray eyes bore into her. "I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you. Maybe forever. Maybe not. My point is that it's not something that can be controlled. Things happen. People change. Hopefully, we change together, but nothing is ever set in stone."

"We are," he rasped. "I'm going to prove it to you." 

She smiled. “I look forward to that, my love."

“Don’t talk about our end, Sansa. When you do you make it sound like a foregone conclusion. It’s not.” He took her hand and pressed it against his chest. “This? My heart? It’s _yours._ ”

“I know,” she murmured. “I worry. I can’t help it. It’s just part of who I am. And my track record with relationships is crap. I know you love me, Jon. I do. I just…have my moments.”

“Moments of doubt.”

“Yes.”

“What can I do to assuage them?”

“Nothing but time will. Our relationship is out in the open now, the excitement of hiding it and sneaking around is over. We’re facing a firestorm of crap and I think…well, I think we can get through this then maybe we could get through anything?”

He still looked worried, but instead of arguing further, he just pulled her back in his arms and held her. Sansa turned her head and kissed his jaw. “You brought your books over?”

He nodded. 

“Schoolwork?”

He nodded again. 

“Why don’t you start that and after I call Tyrion, I’ll sit with you and read for a while?” 

“Okay,” he murmured. 

_Broody baby_ , she thought he headed into the living room. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one with doubts. She supposed she hadn’t done much to help that with how she’d kept pushing him away and stalling their relationship from going public. Jon had been clear about what he wanted from the start. Her, not so much. 

But, they were in it now. For better or worse. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Tyrion answered on the second ring. “Hello, Mrs. Robinson.” She groaned. “Too soon?”

“Way too soon.”

“How’s your neck?”

Sansa leaned forward in the patio chair she was sitting in, her elbows on her knees. “Sore. So tell me, please, how did you and Benjen figure out that something had happened with Joffrey?”

Tyrion sighed heavily. “Well, I was with Joffrey when Benjen showed up. We’d just had a meeting.”

“So you mean you ran the meeting and somehow made him look good?”

“Precisely. So we went into Joffrey’s office and it was clear that Benjen was upset. He told us about Jon and Joffrey appeared to just listen for a while.”

“You mean he did that eerily silent thing where you know the storm is brewing?”

“Yes. And then he started calling you a bunch of names that one should not and will not repeat in polite company.”

“In front of Benjen?!” she exclaimed. 

“Of course. Then he said he needed to calm down and use the restroom and excused himself.”

“He lied,” Sansa sighed.

“Of course he did. He didn’t want me stopping him. By the time we figured out what happened, it was too late. He returned rather quickly—”

“It doesn’t take long to choke someone. Jeyne was here; she came running out with a baseball bat.”

Sansa could hear the smile in Tyrion’s voice when he said, “I always did like her.”

“So then what happened?”

“When he returned, he was on the phone with Cersei telling he’d ‘had a fight’ with you and that she needed to take care of it for him. He was right outside my office at that point, and I don’t think he realized that we were there. Or cared. He was too busy in cover-up mode. Benjen was worried about what ‘had a fight’ meant, and I had a pretty good idea. I think Benjen was connecting the dots at that point, and so we left to see you. I hear he received the Restraining Order.”

“I’m sure that went over well,” she muttered. 

“Who cares? He deserved it.”

“What exactly was Cersei’s plan in taking care of it for him anyway?”

“To lay low. To stay away from you. Nothing big And of course to deny it should anyone ask. I’m certain that she was on the phone afterwards to whomever she could pay off in case you pressed charges.”

“I really hate your sister,” Sansa said venomously. 

Tyrion laughed. “Join the club. As for the rest, well, you know it.”

She sighed. “I do.”

“What do you need, Sansa? You know I’d do anything within my power to help you out here.”

“Keep me posted on any new developments?”

“As much as I can with how little I am told.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Get my son back for me?”

“Give him time, Sansa. I imagine yesterday was a shock for him, and I imagine now he’s got the added fun of sorting out what his father did. He needs space and time. But trust, he will come back to you. That boy loves you. You raised a thoughtful and considerate young man who thinks the world of his mother. He’ll come back.”

Sansa welled up in tears. “Thank you, Tyrion.”

“Of course. Meanwhile, just lay low yourself. Get that young man of yours to treat you like a Queen. Five minutes with him yesterday, and I could tell he dotes on you.”

Sansa smiled through her tears. “He does.”

“Then enjoy it. The rest will sort itself out.”

**Meanwhile…**

While Sansa spoke to Tyrion, Jon took it upon himself to text Benjen: _Hey._

He wondered if the three little dots were going to appear and had almost resigned himself to it not happening when they appeared. 

_Hey._

Jon: Man, am I glad you answered. How are you?

Benjen: Well, I just found out my Mom and my best friend have been screwing around? Dating? And my father fucking assaulted her. How do you think I am?

Jon: Benjen, I’m sorry. I really am. There was no real easy way to tell you, ya know?

Benjen: I suspected you had a crush on her, but I had no idea she felt the same way. 

Jon: She didn’t. Not at first. 

Benjen: Do I want to hear this?

Jon: Maybe not all of it, but some of it so you won’t wonder. Listen, I was thinking if I can get Jeyne to keep Sansa company tomorrow, could I come up and see you? Just to talk. You can even hit me again if you want.

Benjen: Is my Dad bothering her again?

Jon: No. But I don’t want to take the chance that he could. 

Benjen: ….

….  
….

You love her?

Jon smiled and typed: More than you could possibly imagine. 

Benjen: Christ. Fine. Yeah. You can come up I guess. 

Jon: Thanks, Benjen. 

Benjen: Whatever

Okay, so the reception was mixed, but at least Benjen said he could come up and see him. That was a step in the right direction. 

He put his phone down on the coffee table beside him when Sansa entered looking a bit distraught. He frowned. “What did Tyrion say?”

“Nothing really regarding Joffrey. He actually congratulated me on the Restraining Order.  
Apparently, Joffrey is under orders to lay low. And Cersei was all set and prepared to pay off whoever she needed to just in case I pressed charges. Lovely, right?”

Jon moved his books to the floor and held up his arm. “Come here.”

She didn’t argue; instead, she came over and nestled right into him. She told him how Benjen had found out that Joffrey had done something to her, and Jon felt his rage over the situation return. 

The man was a waste of space. He didn’t deserve to have ever had Sansa, and he definitely didn’t deserve a great guy like Benjen as his son. He’d met Joffrey only a few times, but he’d always thought the guy was a prick. He hated the way he’d talked to Sansa at Benjen’s graduation party, and he’d been tempted to shove the fucker in the pool and hold his head down under water. 

“So, I’m going to give Benjen time and space for now,” she said. 

“Well, you might not have to wait too long. I just texted him. He said I can come up and talk to him tomorrow.”

Sansa reared back, looking at him with wide eyes. He smiled. “Really?” she asked. 

He nodded. 

“Well, that’s a step in the right direction, isn’t it?” she said excitedly. 

“I’d say. But while I’m there, San, I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I can’t have someone with me forever.”

“No, but for a while at least. Humor me, please?”

“Jon—”

“Look, you’re not going to convince me not to worry about you. Jeyne let herself in the house and found us. Your mother did too, this morning. I know you don’t always remember to lock up, especially when you’re home. That’s not safe. And neither is hiding your spare key above the door.”

She furrowed her brow. “How do you know where I keep the spare key?”


	18. Chapter 18

“I came over after school once with Benjen and he forgot his key. He grabbed the spare,” Jon told her. Then he got up and went to the front door. He opened it and Sansa watched him reach up and fish around with his hand. Then he showed it to her. “It’s the same as leaving it under a pot of flowers, Sansa. I’m sure Joffrey could crack that code.”

“Are you mansplaining right now? Can I tell you how much I hate that?”

He came back in the house and shut the front door. “Maybe I am a little. But you need some protection, Sansa. More than a bat.”

“I could booby trap the house like in _Home Alone_?” She held up her hand. “Don’t say a word if you’ve never even seen that movie. Christ, will you ever get my references?"

He laughed as he sat back down next to her. “I’ve seen _Home Alone_ , San. My mom is your age, remember?” He frowned. “That just made it worse, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, maybe not say things like that,” she said, patting his leg. 

He held up the key and then put it down on the coffee table. “You need an alarm system.”

“I actually thought over the summer when it was getting close to Benjen leaving that I’d get a dog. Something to keep me company. And I mean, dogs bark so that could be kind of the same as an alarm…?”

Jon’s face lit up with excitement. “A dog, yes! We could get a dog!”

Sansa arched a brow. “We?”

“Well, I’d help you take care of it.”

“In between school and being at your house…”

He laughed, somewhat nervously. “Yes, of course. I mean, when I’m here I could help you with the dog.”

She just looked at him with narrowed suspicious eyes. He laughed again. “So, what kind of dog were you thinking?”

“I don’t know yet.” She sighed and sank back into the couch. “Dogs are big responsibilities. Puppies even more so.”

“Then don’t get a puppy. Get something a little older.”

“You just have an answer for everything,” she laughed. 

“I want you safe, Sansa.”

“I do work from home enough to be here to let it out.”

“We could take it for walks in the evening together,” Jon said with a grin. 

“When you’re here to visit, you mean, and not because you’ve moved yourself in?”

He laughed. “Yes, when I’m here to visit.”

She wagged a finger at him. “I’m onto you, mister.”

He grabbed her wrist, he kissed her fingers, and then her palm. He then placed her hand against his face and leaned in to her. 

She giggled. “Oh my, the air in here just shifted.”

He grinned and kissed her deeply. “I want you again.”

“You always want me.”

“I do,” he admitted.

“Homework?”

“After. Need you now.” And he pushed her back along the length of the couch.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Once Jeyne and, unexpectedly, Robb, had shown up the next morning to take Sansa out for breakfast, Jon had left to see Benjen. He’d contemplated all morning what he would say to make things better between them all, and he figured he’d give Benjen the floor first and see where the cards laid after that. Sansa had warned him this morning not to expect miracles. Jon logically knew that, but he couldn’t keep himself from hoping for one anyway. He and Benjen had never fought before this, though Jon knew Benjen had a tendency to be a bit dramatic at times. He took things to heart, and Jon had often been the voice of reason for him. He supposed that’s why he naively hoped once the shock wore off, Benjen would come around. 

When he got to the school just after ten, he sent Benjen a text and told him he was outside the dorm. Benjen came down fifteen minutes later looking a bit bleary-eyed. He started down a path that led up to a bunch of tall buildings, and nodded for Jon to follow him. 

“Rough night?” Jon asked, keeping his tone light as he fell into step beside Benjen. 

“I went to a party,” Benjen mumbled and then, narrowed his eyes and looked at Jon. “You gonna tell my Mom?”

Jon inwardly sighed. “No, Benjen, I’m not going to tell your Mom you go to parties and get shit-faced.”

“Well, you’ll have to excuse me for not knowing how this works anymore,” Benjen snapped. “You went from being my best friend to screwing my Mom.”

“Don’t make it sound like that,” Jon snapped back. “Don’t disrespect her.”

“You’re not my fucking father, Jon.” The angrier Benjen got, the faster he walked. Jon kept the pace though, determined to work through this with some kind of resolution. “Although,” Benjen laughed, “It turns out my father is a piece of shit so maybe you’re more like him than I thought.”

 _Don’t lash out_ , Jon told himself. _You’re not going to help the situation if you lash out._

“You could be gone tomorrow, you know?” Benjen said, darting onto an expanse of lawn surrounded by buildings and a few benches. He stopped and faced Jon. “I told a friend of mine about all this and she said that an older woman like my Mom isn’t going to want to put up with your bullshit for long.”

“My bullshit?” Jon laughed harshly. “I have bullshit now?”

Benjen shrugged. “My Mom is almost forty and you’re eighteen. Do you know how many times she would go on and on about how things that matter so much to me now aren’t going to matter when I’m her age?”

“That’s because you worried about stupid shit like what some fucking football player thought of you.”

Benjen glared at Jon. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot how you were always too cool to worry about stuff like that. Like you’re above it all. Are you kidding me? I remember you being upset when Brian Delvecchio said you were an overrated asshole and you didn’t know why.”

Jon rubbed his forehead. This was not going well at all. “Well, we all have moments we’re not proud of. That’s one of them.”

Benjen pushed him and Jon stumbled back. His jaw clenched. “Benjen.”

“Stop acting like you’re better than me. Like you’re better and more mature than every other fucking person our age. You’re not.”

“So you admit that you’re being an immature asshole?”

Benjen shoved him again and Jon stumbled back. “What can you even offer her? You go to school and you live with your Mom. You gonna mooch off of her? Make her pay for things and take care of you?”

“I don’t want to fight with you, Benjen,” Jon said as calmly as he could muster. Inside he was a seething mass of rage. 

And doubt. And fear. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought of those very same things himself, but they hadn’t been thing to focus on in light of their relationship going public. 

“Then you shouldn’t have slept with my mother!” Benjen shouted. It was clear Benjen was losing his grip. He was angry and he was hurt. There were tears in his eyes. “When, Jon? _When_ did this happen? _How_? I mean, _fuck_ …did you use me to get to her?”

“ _No_ , Benjen,” Jon said forcefully. “I never used you to get to her. We were friends long before I even met her.”

“But then I think of all the times you asked where my Mom was when you’d come over…was I even a thought to you?”

Jon stayed silent. No. The answer was no. And God, he felt like a shit for that. When it all came down to it, he hadn’t given Benjen a thought when it came to pursuing Sansa. All he’d thought about, and concerned himself with, was Sansa. 

“You’re an asshole,” Benjen whispered. 

“You were her thought,” Jon told him. “She was always worried about you and what you would feel. She tried ending it several times and didn’t want to go public because she was afraid of hurting you.”

“She should have given you up,” Benjen said. “She should have let you go.”

“She tried. I wouldn’t let her.”

Benjen looked at him, startled. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You wouldn’t ‘let’ her? She’s got free will, Jon, she can make her own decisions.”

“I know that, but—”

“But what?” He shoved Jon again. “Are you trying to control her or something?”

“No, Benjen, Jesus! _Stop fucking pushing me!_ ”

“I want you to stay away from my mother,” Benjen said angrily, jamming a finger in his face. “Just stay the fuck away from her.”

Jon straightened and stepped towards Benjen, his eyes boring into him. “No,” he said firmly. “I’m not doing that. I love your mother, and she loves me. I was hoping that we could have a civil discussion about this, but I see that isn’t going to happen. Your mother has a life outside of you, Benjen, and she deserves to be happy. I’m hoping that once you calm down you can understand that and want the same for her.”

“Why the hell does it have to be _you_ , Jon?”

“I don’t know…any other men she dated had their head up their ass and couldn’t see the amazing woman she is? Maybe it was fated?”

Benjen rolled his eyes. “Spare me.”

“I love you, man, I do. And I get that you’re angry. I know it doesn’t mean much, but I am sorry. I am sorry that it all shook out this way. I know for a fact that it isn’t what your Mom wanted. Fucking hell, Benjen, if you only knew how much your Mom loves you… she went through hell the other day worried about you and then having to deal with what your father did. Please don’t add to it. Your Mom deserves to be happy and she deserves to be loved for the incredible woman that she is. You can hate me all you want, I’ll deal. It doesn’t make me happy, but I’ll deal. But don’t take it out on her.”

Benjen glared at him. “I won’t abandon my mother. I’ll just be part of the cheering section when she decides to kick your ass to the curb.”

Jon didn’t respond. If he did, he knew he’d regret it and that anything he said or did would upset Sansa. Instead, he turned and walked away and headed back to his car. He felt tears of frustration come; he felt like he’d failed. Sansa had warned him, but he’d still held out hope like a fool. 

Ygritte and Val’s advice came back to him. Be a man. He had to be a man for Sansa. Benjen hated him, okay, he wasn’t happy about that, but he would deal with it. Just as long as Benjen didn’t take it out Sansa and do anything stupid like make her choose. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

“Labs are a lot work,” Robb said as he turned down Sansa’s street. 

“All dogs are a lot of work,” Sansa said from the backseat of his car. 

“Well, Jon’s idea of getting one a little older than a puppy isn’t a bad one,” Jeyne said from the front. “Though what does that mean for training, I wonder.”

“Good question,” Sansa said. “I suppose it can’t help to ask. I mean, I do want to try a shelter first and…” she trailed off when Robb pulled into her driveway. There was something red on her white door. It looked like blood –

“Oh my God,” Jeyne whispered. 

“That fucking sonofabitch,” Robb swore and slammed on the brakes in her driveway and flung the gear into park. 

Someone had painted WHORE in red on her door. 

No. Correction. _Joffrey_ had painted WHORE in red on her front door. 

It had to be. Who else would it be? 

Sansa felt as though her breakfast was going to come back up on her. 

“Sansa, you need to take a picture of that and call the cops,” Robb said as they all climbed out of the car. 

Sansa stared at her door, shaking. She hadn’t thought Joffrey would come back, and not because he had any respect for the Restraining Order but because she was pretty certain his mother would have warned him not to violate it. If there was anyone he listened to, it was Cersei. 

On the other hand though, Joffrey knew enough pricks just like him that could have done this. 

It was crudely done; it was obvious that it was done in a hurry out of fear of a neighbor calling the cops or something. 

“Sansa, are you listening to me?” Robb barked. 

“Robb, Jesus, give her a minute. It’s fucking paint; it’s not like it’s going anywhere in the next five minutes,” Jeyne said and wrapped an arm around Sansa. “You want me to take a picture of it?”

Sansa nodded. What was she feeling? Fear. Fear because her home had been violated. Would it have been if she’d been home? They must have figured out somehow that she wasn’t home. Or maybe not. They could have just run up and done it. Her car was in the garage, it would have been easy enough look inside and see it there. Had they peaked through her house windows to see if she was home? 

She heard the sound of the camera on Jeyne’s phone, and Robb on the phone with the cops. Fear gave way to anger. Joffrey wanted her afraid. It was his MO in everything. He had a volatile temper and he liked the power it gave him to make everyone afraid of how he might lash out, how they might cross the line and pique his anger. 

He was laughing about this somewhere, thinking he got her good.

She was going to get an alarm system and a dog. A dog that would rip his fucking face off if he or his little shithead friends dared tried something like this again. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, the cops had long since left, and Sansa had knocked on her surrounding neighbors’ doors to ask if they had seen anything. No one had, which meant that nothing could be done. She did tell the cops about Joffrey, showed them her neck and the pictures of it from the other day, plus showed them the Restraining Order, but there was nothing they could do. They could not go after Joffrey. All they could do, and would do, was patrol the area more often. Robb in the meantime had gone to Home Depot and got paint to cover up the door. Sansa told him to get navy blue. It had taken a couple of coats, but the offending message was eventually covered up. 

Now Sansa, Robb, and Jeyne were on Sansa’s laptop in the kitchen looking at pictures of dogs from the local shelter, and Sansa was making a list of the ones she wanted to see. She was still shook up and trying not to be, and this gave her a focus at least. 

This was how Jon found them when he arrived, coming through the screen door in the back of the house. He looked confused when he entered. He nodded to Jeyne and Robb, and then came up behind Sansa and placed his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her cheek and peered over her shoulder at the computer screen. “Looking at dogs?”

She nodded. “I’m making a list.”

“I got your text about coming through the back, obviously, since I just did. What made you decide to paint the front door?”

“Joffrey painted ‘whore’ in red on her front door,” Robb said. “It was there when we got back from breakfast.”

“What?” Jon asked, his voice a whisper, but that whisper was menacing. 

Sansa shut her eyes and covered them with her hand. 

“Robb! Jesus,” Jeyne said and kicked him under the table. 

He scowled at her. “What? He asked a question. I answered it.”

“Sansa might have wanted to tell him.”

“Why does it matter who told him?” 

Jeyne just sighed and pushed her chair back. “Let’s go, knucklehead. I’m sure Jon and Sansa want to talk alone.”

Robb grumbled, muttering under his breath, but he kissed the top of his sister’s head and made her promise to call him if she needed anything. He then patted Jon awkwardly on the shoulder and followed Jeyne out the door. 

Jon snatched Sansa up from her chair and into his arms. He held her face in his hands and looked at her imploringly. “Are you okay? Did you call the cops?”

“I’m fine; I wasn’t even here when it happened.”

“Still. It’s a violation of privacy. My mom and I were robbed once. It’s fucking scary to think of someone on your property, even if it’s just your lawn.”

That was all it took for the tears to come. Jon swore and wrapped her up in his arms, holding her tight against him, one hand buried in her hair at the back of her head. “Sansa, _God_ …”

“The cops can’t do anything,” she said tearfully. “I went to my neighbors and asked if they’d seen anything. They hadn’t. The most the cops can do is patrol the area more.”

“I wish I’d been here,” Jon said hoarsely. 

“There was nothing you could have done that Robb and Jeyne weren’t already doing.”

He pushed out of her arms and headed for the living room. “Where’s that bat? I’m going track that mother fucker down and—”

Sansa grabbed his arm and tugged on him. It was like trying to move a tree. “Jon, no. You’re not going to go after him and get yourself arrested.”

“Sansa, he was _here_. On your _property_. He trespassed and did damage—”

“I know what he did. I saw it. But you’re of no help to me if you end up getting arrested for going after him. I need you here. With me.”

Jon pulled her back into his arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead and she could feel the rigidity in his body. He was going to stay for her because she’d asked, but he still wanted the fight. 

“How’s my son?” she asked, uncertain as to if that would make his mood worse. But she did want to know. 

He groaned. “The good news is he’s not about to abandon you. The bad news is, he’s all for you dumping me.”

Sansa just sagged against him. “I didn’t expect he would do a one-eighty and be fine with us. He needs time. Did he happen to say how much?”

“No. He’s still pretty angry, and it’s clear what his prick of a father did is weighing on him too.”

Sansa nodded and looked up at him. “You wanna look at some dogs with me?”

Jon leaned down and kissed her quickly. “Happily.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't ignoring anyone last chapter, I just figured I would stay out of the discussion! I enjoyed reading it though!

After looking at some dogs together, Sansa busied herself in her office with some work while Jon worked on homework. When she emerged finally and peeked around the corner in the living room, she found Jon on the couch, his books closed, just staring out the window looking as though he was thinking about something very serious.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked.

He started, and then looked over at her. He smiled. “Done work?”

“For now. Hungry?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“What do you want?”

He smirked. “You? Could I have you?”

She laughed. “Later. What are you in the mood for?”

“Pizza. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect. I’ll call.”

“No, baby, I got it. And I’m gonna pay for it, too.” He got up off the couch, pulling his cell out of his pocket. Sansa furrowed her brow as she watched him make the call. When he got off the phone, he placed his cell on the coffee table and looked at her. “What? You’re looking at me funny.”

“ ‘And I’m gonna pay for it too’,” she said, attempting to imitate him and failing miserably.

He looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…well, see Benjen said a few things that got me thinking…”

“About paying for pizza?”

“About mooching off of you.”

She straightened; blinked. “Oh.”

He sighed. “He just got me thinking. San, I don’t want you to be like my mother and support me.”

“Jon, I know that. I don’t support you—”

“I eat your food. I take showers here.”

“Jon, our relationship hasn’t exactly been conventional. I don’t consider it mooching when you come over here to see me. It’s the only place we have—”

“Yeah. I know.” He sounded bitter about that.

Sansa started over to him, and when she was within arm’s reach, he reached out and pulled her in against him. “Jon, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I wish I had a place of my own,” he said as he ran his fingertips along her collarbone. “I was going to get one, that was the plan over the summer when I got that job, but it wasn't enough to get a place. Or it was, but not enough to sustain me after the season ended and I had to get another job.”

“You also have school you have to focus on. You can't get a full time job on top of school right now.”

“I want to get something, San. I want to pull my weight—”

“There's no weight to pull. You don't live with me. You're not responsible for paying my mortgage or utilities.”

“I have a car, a laptop, and a phone. That’s all I have."

She kissed him quickly. “And you have me.”

He groaned and captured her lips in a kiss that made her weak in the knees, his arms like bands around her. “I do have you,” he murmured. “I want to _keep_ you.”

“You can,” she said lightly. “Please don’t worry about money or a job right now. You have school and that’s more important.”

He shook his head. “San—”

“Don’t argue with me. What else did Benjen say?”

Jon told her the rest of his conversation with Benjen, leaving out the bit about Benjen shoving him. There was no sense in getting her upset about the fact that Benjen had wanted a fight. And he definitely didn't tell her about Benjen asking him to leave Sansa alone. That would just give her ideas. The pained look on her face as he relayed the conversation was bad enough, and he half expected her to suggest they go on another break.

That was not going to happen. Never. Again.

When he was finished, the pizza arrived, and he paid for it as promised while Sansa went to the kitchen and got out plates and poured them glasses of water to drink. They sat down together at the table and Jon watched her carefully as she munched on pizza and stared thoughtfully at the pie on the table.

“Out with it,” he said, not able to take her silence any longer. “What are you thinking?”

She sighed and looked over at him. “I’m thinking I need to ask Benjen’s Uncle Robb and Uncle Tyrion to check up on him if they haven’t already. He needs someone to talk to until he's ready to talk to me.” She flung her crust in the box. “As if dealing with us wasn’t enough, then his father goes and adds to it.”

“San, he’s not abandoning you. You know that right? He said it himself.”

She sighed and nodded. “If or when you’re a parent one day, you’ll understand. When your kid hurts, you hurt. Wanting your kids happy and unharmed is all you ever want."

Jon’s gaze drifted to Sansa’s belly and his mind wandered to the idea of Sansa pregnant. Specifically, Sansa pregnant with his baby. Having a family with her. He already knew he wanted to marry her; shit, he’d already planned on it. But he hadn't thought of them having kids right away and, he knew, that it was risky for women after forty to have kids, and that there was a greater chance for the child to have disabilities.

You learned things when your Mom was a nurse.

At best, he thought they could perhaps adopt a kid. But the idea of Sansa carrying his child... of knowing, too, that it would bind her to him...

“Now you’re zoning out again,” she said, pulling him back.

“Did you ever want to have more kids?” he asked. Not the best segue, and Sansa would certainly pick up on that, but now that the thought was there, he couldn’t shake it. Among other things.

She looked sad, almost wistful. “Yeah, I did. I wanted a big family. Always did. But after Joffrey…well, it just never happened. Obviously.”

“There’s still time,” he said softly. “Or do you not think so?”

She looked at him with the same knowing look as when he was angling to stay longer than a night with her. And that was a subject about to be revisited after what had happened today…

“Jon, what are you thinking? You want kids with me?”

“Yes.” Was there any point in lying? “If you want them, I want them. Even just one. Just a little me and you.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what again?”

“Speeding ahead. We haven’t even gotten through this hurdle and you’re thinking kids.”

“Sansa, I already know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Jon, just slow down.”

He didn’t want to slow down. It wasn’t really in his nature to slow down. He knew what he wanted and he went after it. His mother always said he could do anything he wanted if he put his mind to it. Granted, he didn’t think she meant quite this, but tom-ay-toe, to-mah-toe.

But it was in Sansa’s nature to slow down. To consider everything.

“Hypothetically speaking then,” he said. “Let’s say everything was settled with Benjen and our families. Let’s say we didn’t have Joffrey to worry about anymore. Would you marry me? Have kids with me?”

“I think if we were still together in four to five years, I would consider it.”

“Four to five years?” he asked incredulously while thinking: _You expect me to wait five years to make you my wife? No. That’s not happening._

“Yes. You need to get through school. And there’s always the possibility of grad school.” She picked up another slice of pizza and nibbled on it. Now she looked sad. As though she was contemplating pulling away from him again, and thinking of all the things that could go wrong between them. She was the one who thought of all the ways they’d end – always with him leaving her – and then she’d adjust her course and start to pull away from him. Essentially, she abandoned them, despite her promises yesterday morning not to. It was maddening.

She loved him; he knew she did. But he still felt…uneasy. Because of moments like this.

“I’ll be too old by then probably, to have kids,” she said finally. “I saw my doctor over the summer, and she said I was in perfect health and had some time if I wanted to consider it. But the window is shrinking. Granted, she didn't know that I wasn't planning on getting married any time soon. I just don’t think that’s something we should think about right now, Jon. I just want to get through this shit storm first, and get used to being together. If, later on down the road, we do get married, we could always adopt. Maybe someone a little older?” She threw that piece of crust in the box too. “What do you think about that?”

"I'd thought of that, too," he said. 

But he still wanted a baby with her.

Another day, he thought. He’d approach it again another day. “So, you do realize I’m not leaving tonight, right?”

She looked at him with a wry smile. “I figured as much. But I want you to stay. In light of what Joffrey did…” She sighed. “I’d prefer you stayed.”

“What do you think about watching a movie?”

She smiled as she got up and kissed the top of his head. “Perfect. I’m just going to change.”

xxxxxxxxx

"I want to take a bath," Sansa murmured against Jon's chest after they'd made it through two movies. He'd held her in his arms the entire time while she'd cuddled up against him on the couch, and once in a while he would lift her chin and kiss her. It was as if he needed reassurance that she was there, and that she loved him. She was happy to give it to him, and she wondered if she'd ever get used to having someone love her the way Jon did. 

"Is that an invitation to join you?" he mumbled against her temple. 

She nodded and moved her head back to look up at him. "Would you?"

He grinned and kissed her soundly. "Of course."

Sansa jumped to her feet, and glanced at the clock. She needed to take her birth control. She had made it only a few steps before Jon swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom. She laughed delightedly, nuzzling at his neck and biting him softy. He growled as he tapped the door open with his foot and then placed her on the counter. He kissed her hard, greedily, and slid her shirt up. She lifted her arms and he took her shirt off, throwing it the floor while he went to work on the clasp of her bra. Soon, that was gone and Jon suckled at her breasts, making her nipples hard and causing Sansa to moan as she carded her fingers through his hair. 

His shirt was next and Sansa put her hands on his abs and ran them up to his shoulders, admiring how he quivered under her touch. He was panting, and when she drew him back to her, her hands curving around his waist now, he kissed her so hard she fell slightly backwards against the mirror. 

She pushed up and broke the kiss. "Wait, wait, wait..."

"What?" he asked, already chasing her mouth for another kiss. 

"I need to take my pill."

He pulled back, frowning. "Is your neck hurting, baby?"

"No, my birth control pill," she said. "I've got a small window to take it in, and I don't want to go past it. Otherwise, condoms for you."

She hopped down from the counter and went to the medicine cabinet to take out her pills and poured herself a paper cup of water from the tap. When she turned, she found Jon watching her intently. She smiled. "Where were we?"

He yanked her against him and kissed her. "Here. We were here."

"I should get the bath started," she murmured. 

He walked her backwards towards the tub, never once relinquishing his hold on her and she giggled. She leaned over and started the tub and then he set about undressing her. He knelt on the floor, and she placed her hands on his shoulders as he helped her take off her socks, pants, and panties. He then buried his face in her belly and left soft little kisses on it while gliding one hand up her leg and then inside her thighs. He teased her folds, scraping his thumb against her clit lightly. Goosebumps formed on her flesh and she dug her nails into his shoulders. "Jon," she whimpered. 

"Have you ever taken a bath with the intent to get dirty, pretty girl?" he asked as he rubbed her clit. 

She shook her head. 

He grinned. "Then this will be another first for us."

He stood and his hand went right back between her legs. "I want you to cum for me, Sansa. I want you all nice and wet..."

Sansa pushed her face into his chest and gripped his arms hard. When he drove two fingers inside her, she rode his hand. 

"That's it," he said hotly in her ear. "That's my girl. Ride my hand. Cum for me, baby, come on..."

"Jon!" she cried out, gasping, her legs shaking. 

"Fuck, I can feel your cunt gripping me the way it does my cock." He rocked her slightly, teasing her clit until she was pushing his hand away. 

She sagged against him while he licked his fingers and hummed as though he was having a delicious dessert. He then kissed her, letting her taste herself on his tongue. 

Sansa jolted away from him and spun around, still a bit wobbly on her legs and sat down on the edge of the tub. 

"What's wrong?" Jon asked, sounding alarmed. 

She held up the bottle of lavender bubble bath and blinked. He shook his head at her, smiling, and finished undressing while she tended to the bath. 

When the water was properly bubbly, Sansa looked up at him with a grin, shut off the water, and stepped into the tub. Jon climbed in after her and reclined back. "I want you to straddle me," he rasped and reached for her, helping her ease down against him.

She moaned at the feel of his hard cock against her pussy and gently rubbed against him, causing him to moan as well. Jon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her until she was left panting. He slid his hands down over her ass and squeezed. “I want you to make yourself cum again, San,” he said. “I want you to rub yourself against my cock. 

She bit her lip and began to move her hips, rubbing against his cock. He squeezed her ass, fondled it, and then slid one hand between her cheeks. Sansa stopped moving and looked at him. 

He grinned. “I told you I want that ass.” He used his other hand on her ass to squeeze her cheek. “My ass.”

“You also said we’d ease into it.”

“We are. I’m not going to stick my cock in there tonight, Sansa. I just want to see how you like my finger…” he slid a finger over her asshole “…right there…”

She didn’t hate it. It actually felt kind of erotic to her. 

“Kiss me, baby,” he murmured and she kissed him, resting her hand on the back of the tub behind him while Jon swirled his finger around the bud of her ass again and again. 

She began to rub against his cock again until she was aching to have him inside her. Fucking in the tub though, not the best idea. “I need you inside me now,” she whispered and rose up. 

Jon helped her up and she climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel from the rack, and threw one at him. It caught him in the face and she laughed as she hurried to her bedroom to finish drying off. 

Jon wasn’t far behind, and when he got in the room, she was already climbing up on the bed, her ass in the air. He growled, still dripping a bit from the bath and stopped her from turning around on the bed. Instead, he grabbed her hips, climbed up one bed and circled her bud of her ass with his tongue. 

Sansa’s eyes went wide and she stiffened. That, she had not been expecting! 

“Relax, sweet girl,” Jon said, and then licked at her slit. 

She felt him move and when she turned, she found him turning around so that he was on his back, his head up by her belly. “Um, Jon?”

“I want you to sit on my face,” he told her. “Sit back on your heels, baby.” She moved into position, her heart racing, and slowly sank back so that she was almost straddling his neck. She lifted up a bit and he put his mouth on her while wrapping his hands around her thighs. 

“This is obscene,” she muttered. She remembered when they’d sixty-nined, but this…somehow this felt dirtier. 

“Grab my hair,” he ordered. “Stick my face in your cunt. Put my mouth where you want it.”

“Jon—”

“Do it.”

She gripped his curls hard, but not too much to hurt him, and drew his head up to her cunt. At the first touch of his tongue against her clit, she moaned. Then he stuck his tongue in her hole and she started to move her hips little by little. 

He sucked her clit in his mouth and then he began licking his tongue over her clit up and down and up down. She gripped his hair. “Keep your tongue still,” she ordered. 

He did as she asked and she moved her hips forward then back, forward then back. His tongue kept grazing her clit again and again, and then she threw caution to the wind and buried his face in her cunt. He gripped her thighs hard and sucked on her clit until she was screaming. Fearful that she was suffocating him, she released his head and it fell back with a plop on the bed.

“I need inside you,” he gasped. 

“Could you breathe?” she asked, concerned. 

“Yes. Fuck, Sansa, I need inside you, baby,” he said urgently. “I’m fucking harder than a rock.”

Gingerly, Sansa climbed off of him. But she didn’t want to ride him. Instead, she got on all fours, facing the headboard and wiggled her ass as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Take me this way,” she said. 

He didn’t argue. He scrambled into position and slammed inside her, pushing her forward. Sansa gasped and let her torso drop to the bed. She laid her head sideways on the mattress and gripped it with her hands. 

He started slow, fucking her with even strokes, and then pausing, and starting up again. He was holding off his orgasm, she thought. And she didn’t want him to. She wanted him to lose control. 

“Fuck me, Jon,” she muttered. “Fuck me so hard and deep…”

“Sansa,” he moaned, holding himself inside her. His cock pulsed. 

“You’re so deep inside me this way,” she said. “So deep inside my wet pussy. God, you’ve made me so fucking wet, Jon.”

He started to move, his thrusts steady. The sort of thrusts that she knew would give way to hard and fast ones. 

“You’re so hard,” she moaned. “Did you know I can feel you inside me hours after we’ve fucked…?”

“Fucking hell, Sansa!” he shouted and sure enough, he started thrusting harder. Faster. 

“I want you to fill me with your cum. Blast it deep inside me…”

“Play with yourself,” he grunted. “I want you to cum again, Sansa. Do it!”

She reached down and began playing with her clit as she fucked her. She’d gotten him to the point of no return and she _loved it._

To her surprise, he placed his thumb on her rosebud and began to rub it. It got her hot, she had to admit. Apparently, she was at the point of no return, too. She began fucking back at him, their bodies slamming together. 

“That’s it,” he muttered. “That’s my girl. My Sansa. Fuck me back. Squeeze me with that pussy.” The tip of his thumb pushed passed her rosebud just a touch and Sansa screamed as she came. 

“That’s it, that’s my baby, that’s my Sansa, fuck, fuck, fuck, YES!” He slammed inside her, nudging at her cervix, which made her gasp and her eyes roll back. He held himself inside her as he came and when he was done, Sansa collapsed to the bed, unable to hold herself up any longer.

Jon rested against her back, but didn’t squash her. He nuzzled at the back of her neck, moaning how he loved her, how he’d do anything for her, and how she drove him wild. Then he rolled off and gathered her back against his front. Exhausted, Sansa shut her eyes and allowed herself to just relax into the bliss and be carried away…


	20. Chapter 20

"It feels like a month went by this weekend," Jon said as he sat on Sansa's bed and watched her get ready for work. She was dressed already, but now she was fishing in her jewelry box for earrings. 

"Tell me about it," she muttered and, having located the earrings she wanted, lifted her head to put them on. He watched her, fascinated by this part of watching her get ready for the day. Had he ever had time to just sit and watch her at his leisure while she prepared for the day? He couldn't recall in recent memory. 

"I'm not looking forward to going back to school," he admitted. "I wish I could just stay here with you all day."

"I won't be here all day."

He got up and ambled over to her while she rubbed at some spot on her chin. He placed his hands on her hips and drew her bottom against him. She laughed softly and he wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms down by her sides and nipping at her ear. "I always hate to leave you," he murmured. "Feels like I can't breathe right until you're with me again."

"Can I kiss you?"

"You can always kiss me."

"You have to let me go first," she said with a laugh and wriggled in his arms. 

He did, but only enough to let her turn in his arms and wrap hers around his neck. She leaned up and kissed him sweetly and he moaned. She tasted like coffee and toothpaste and she smelled good enough to eat. He got to watch that, too; her application of perfume. On the wrists and behind her ears. 

She pulled back and smiled at him. "It'll be good to have something of a routine, don't you think?"

"I guess," he said with a shrug and kissed her again. "When will you be home?"

"I'm sure I'll be in and out between appointments."

"Have that bat on you."

"Yes, dear." 

He shot her a look and she grinned cheekily at him. "And we're going to look at dogs tonight, so you need to be home at five," he said.

"You mean _I'm_ going to look at dogs and you're just coming with me, right?" 

He laughed. "Of course."

"I'm onto you, Snow."

"Until you get a dog, I'm staying here with you again, Stark."

"Don't you think your Mom misses you?"

"I saw her over the weekend."

"Not for very long."

"Sansa, are you trying to get rid of me?" He pouted. 

"No, I just don't want to give your mother any more reason to hate me."

"She doesn't hate you."

She snorted. 

"She just needs time, Sansa. Just like Benjen does."

Sansa sighed, her smile dropping. Jon was sorry for it, and gathered her back up in his arms. "You know what I want to do tonight?"

"What's that?" she murmured into his shoulder. 

"I want to look at the stars with you."

She pulled back to look at him and smiled. "I like the sound of that."

She pushed out of his arms and straightened her top - a flowy, flowered thing that was a bit low cut. Jon frowned. "You seeing any male clients today?"

"Perhaps a husband or two," she said. 

"Their wives are there with them?"

She looked at him; blinked. "Yes." Then she furrowed her brow. "Are you worried?"

He nodded and tried to snag her arm as she moved away from him, heading towards the door. "You're just so gorgeous, baby."

She laughed and looked over her shoulder at him. "So are you, and you're surrounded by a bevy of hot young girls all day at school. Including that girl that came onto you Thursday night. Ygritte, was it?"

He groaned, following her to the kitchen. "Yeah. That'll be fun to see her," he said dryly. 

"Well, she helped didn't she?"

"I almost lost you.” He scowled. "If you hadn't believed me—"

"But I did." She grabbed her purse off the kitchen table and kissed him. "Be good today."

He smirked. "Will I get a treat later if I am?"

"Dealer's choice?"

"Fuck yeah," he said enthusiastically. "I love it when you take control. God, I'm getting hard just thinking about last night." He growled and yanked her to him. "No chance for a quickie, huh?"

She laughed. "No. Tonight, Instant Gratification Boy, just think about tonight."

Together they walked into the living room, where Jon grabbed his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and they headed outside. Jon watched her lock up, and then hand-in-hand, they walked to the driveway. With one last parting kiss, they went to their respective cars and their day began. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

Jon hadn’t been lying when he said it felt like a month had passed over the weekend. It took him a bit to get into the swing of things. Finding a parking space, trudging to class, listening to a couple lectures, thinking about Sansa, Benjen, and the Joffrey problem…

After his second class of the day, he whipped out his phone and sent Sansa a quick text: I miss you. 

He smiled, thinking of how it would brighten her day to see it, and then he thought of how she might text him back, and he felt a little lighter in his step. 

When he got to the commuter café, he sighed when he saw Sam, Ygritte, and Val sitting together. As soon as Ygritte saw him, she waved him over. Sansa wanted him to be good, so Jon would try his level best to be good. He sauntered over, dropping his backpack on the floor, and slid into a chair across from Sam. 

Sam smiled nervously at him and darted a glance at Ygritte and Val. 

Val poked him hard on the arm. “You got us into trouble buddy, breaking all those glasses when you cleared the table.”

Jon pointed at Ygritte, who sat to the right of him at the round table. “Her fault.”

“How was you jumping on the table to get to your girl _my_ fault?” she asked. “Any normal person would have said, ‘excuse me’.”

Jon narrowed his eyes at her. “After what you pulled? You’re lucky I’m even talking to you right now. I nearly lost Sansa because of you.”

Ygritte rolled her eyes and Val looked at him thoughtfully. “I did catch sight of her before she ran out of the restaurant. She’s quite beautiful, Jon.”

He broke into a wide smile; he couldn’t help it. “She is.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ygritte said, but Jon could tell it pained her to admit that. 

“Is everything all right then?” Sam asked. “With you and her – er, Sansa, I mean?”

He nodded, grinning, thinking about last night. “Yeah, everything is all right.” Then he thought of Benjen and Joffrey and his grin faltered. 

“I wasn’t kidding, you know,” Ygritte said. “What I said.”

“Ygritte,” Val said. “No. Jon is not interested.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Jon is not interested. Jon has an incredible woman and has no desire for anyone else. Not even for a threesome.”

“You’re not normal,” Ygritte said. “There is something wrong with you.” 

Jon shrugged. 

“Have you told anyone yet?” Sam asked. 

Jon sighed. “Yeah, well…” Did he want to get into it with all of them? No, not really. But maybe they could help him figure out what to do with Benjen. Even if Ygritte was acting severely put out that he didn’t want to have sex with her and Val. 

“Benjen found out,” Jon said. “He walked in on us…”

“Holy shit!” Ygritte laughed. “Wow! 

“Oh my God,” Val said. “What did he do? Say?”

“Is that why you have a bit of a bruise on your face?” Sam asked. 

He told them what happened with Benjen, which segued into Joffrey. 

Ygritte actually looked concerned when Jon finished telling them what Joffrey had done to Sansa. Jon felt his seething anger and the fact that he had yet to find retribution for what that ass had done to Sansa, well up inside him. Val reached over and placed her hand over his fists on the table. 

He told them that he and Sansa were going to look for a dog for her (them) that night. “My question is,” he said, “Is what do I do about Benjen? I went to see him yesterday and he’s still pissed off.”

“Of course he is,” Val said. “Jon, you were his best friend and he just found out in the worst possible way that you and his Mom were having sex. That’s gotta fuck with his head.”

“And then on top of that, deal with what his father did to his mother,” Ygritte added. “His mother that he’s upset with, mind you. So it’s like he lost both parents in one fell swoop this weekend.”

“He never lost Sansa,” Jon argued. 

“No, but he feels like he can’t trust anyone probably,” Val said. “Not his best friend who is sleeping with his mother, not his mother who is sleeping with his best friend, and not his father who tried to choke his mother.”

“He’s got uncles,” Jon said defensively. 

“Yeah, but his Mom and Dad are the two most important people in his life,” Ygritte pointed out. “And now he doesn’t even have one that he can say what an asshole you are to.”

Jon frowned. “So then what do I do?”

“If you want to be his best friend again?” Val asked. “Stop your relationship with Sansa.”

Jon shook his head, his lips pursed. 

Ygritte waved a finger at him, her eyes narrowed. “No, this motherfucker right here doesn’t care about Benjen that much—”

“That’s not true,” Jon snapped. “I do care about Benjen, but I’m not going to give up the woman I love for him. He asked me to stay away from her when I saw him, and I told him no. I won’t do that.”

“So, you’d do anything for love, but you won’t do that?” Sam said and laughed a little. 

They all looked at him. He turned red and looked down. “Sorry. It’s one my Mom’s favorite songs. Meatloaf. Ever hear of him?”

“Anyway,” Ygritte said. “Look, I didn’t meant to say you didn’t care about him. In your own fucked up ‘I suppose I can care about others outside of Sansa as long as it doesn’t disrupt anything with Sansa’ _way_ , you do care about him.” She looked at Val while pointing at Jon. “He’s not asking what to do to be his bff again, sweetheart. He’s asking what to do to make things all right between Benjen and Sansa so that Sansa isn’t so miserable that her son hates her.”

“He doesn’t hate her,” Jon growled. 

“There’s nothing you can do,” Sam said. 

They all looked at him again. He shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do. Not now anyway. You both have to give him some time and Sansa is probably going to have to be the one to reach out to him eventually.”

Ygritte snapped her fingers and sat back. She now pointed at Sam. “Silent Bob is right.”

Jon sighed. Time. Patience. Letting things be. Those were things he was unfamiliar with. 

xxxxxxxxxx

It was almost two and Sansa was done seeing her clients for the day. She’d called both Robb and Tyrion in between, and they had been checking up on Benjen already despite the fact that he didn’t really want to talk about it, or talk at all really. 

She thought about going home and doing some work there while waiting for Jon, but then a thought got in her head and wouldn’t let go. 

So, after sending Jon a text (I miss you, too) and sending Benjen one too (I love you, baby. And when you’re ready, I’m here), she pulled into Jon’s Mother’s driveway and cut the engine. She was nervous. Wanting to flee kind of nervous. She climbed out of the car, smoothed out her blouse and pants, and made her way to the front door. The house needed painting, the lawn needed mowing. Jon needed to at least mow the lawn for his busy mother, and Sansa made a mental note to tell him that later. 

She rapped on the door and when Lyanna answered, she simply said, “Can we talk?”


	21. Chapter 21

Lyanna just stared at Sansa, and Sansa could tell that she was the last person Lyanna had expected to see. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I probably should have called first, or brought a Bundt cake or something, but I was in the neighborhood and I started thinking about you and I just...I wanted to stop by. I wanted to talk to you because I'm sure there are a lot of things you have to say to me - or at least _want_ to say to me - and I want to give you the opportunity to ask questions or holler at me or anything else you want to do."

Lyanna laughed softly. "Well, first, I'd like you to breathe. Did you even take a breath there?"

Sansa smiled. "I'm nervous, Lyanna. Scared, really."

"And yet you still came."

"Yes. I had to. I am sure you have questions."

"I do. And concerns. More concerns than questions." She scrunched up her face thoughtfully. "Maybe as many questions as concerns. First, though: how’s your neck?”

“It’s fine, thanks. Getting less sore as the days go on.”

“Good.” Lyanna stepped aside. “Come in.”

Sansa stepped inside darted a glance around, not really noticing anything due to her nerves. Her gaze did rest on the overstuffed chair in the corner of the living room and she thought of Jon telling her about his favorite chair. She knew that one had to be it and she wanted to smile, but was afraid to so she didn't. Instead, she followed Lyanna to the kitchen and sat down when Lyanna gestured to the kitchen table. 

"Does Jon know you're here?" Lyanna asked. 

"No." Sansa folded her hands before her on the table and looked up at Lyanna who put her hands on the back of a chair opposite Sansa. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. 

"Can you make me a Valium?"

Lyanna chuckled, and it reminded Sansa of Jon. The smile, even the soft sound of it. "No, but I have water, orange juice, and lemon seltzer."

"Water, please."

Silence fell as Lyanna got them drinks and Sansa reminded herself to breathe. Lyanna had every right to be upset with her. If the tables were turned and Lyanna had been carrying on with Benjen, she would be furious. 

When Lyanna finally placed Sansa's drink and her own, and then sat, Sansa waited patiently for Lyanna to start. She wanted the other woman to have the floor. 

"Do you love my son?" Lyanna asked. 

Sansa nodded. "I do. Very much."

"You had to know he had a crush on you before."

"Until he said something, I didn't know."

"Are you lying?"

Sansa shook her head. "I always thought he was the friendliest of Benjen's friends. He always made a point to talk to me, but I never considered the idea that he had a crush on me.”

“Did you want him them?”

Sansa heaved a sigh and sipped her water. “Your son is a very attractive boy – man. He’s a very attractive man.”

“He’s both I think – a man and a boy. He was a man when he rushed to see you after your ex attacked you.”

“I agree.”

“When I saw you in the grocery store, you were sleeping with him then. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. How kind you were. I can see how my son fell for you, Sansa, but I won’t lie and say that I also don’t get angry when I think of that day. You had a conversation with me and you had been with my son all summer, and I didn’t know.”

“You have every right to be angry. You have every right to feel all the things about me I’m certain I would feel if I the tables were turned and we were talking about Benjen.”

“Did you sleep with him before he graduated high school?”

“No.” Sansa said it by rote. And she felt guilty for it. She was lying to the woman again, and it wasn’t right. Yet she didn’t retract it. 

Lyanna sighed and looked down at the table. She didn’t believe her, Sansa thought. 

But then Lyanna asked, “My son said he pursued you, and not the other way around. Is that true?”

“Yes. He made a pass at me. I rejected him.”

“Mmmm, yes. He said that too. He also said you tried to end things.”

“Yes. More than once. Jon is…well, he can be very determined.”

Lyanna sighed and nodded. “Don’t I know it. He get that single-minded determination from his father. Unlike his father though, Jon isn’t fickle.”

“That is good to know,” Sansa said softly. 

“What do you think is going to happen, Sansa? How do you foresee this working? My son is eighteen. He’s just starting out in life. Do you see a future here?”

“Honestly? I do and I don’t. I know that I love Jon and I want to be with him, but I have the same thoughts. He’s young, he’s in college, and this is the time when you really start to figure out who you are—”

“Do you know who you are, Sansa?”

That caught Sansa off guard and she clamped her mouth shut. 

Lyanna held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m sorry. That was…that was rude.”

“You’re allowed to be rude,” Sansa said softly. “Honestly, I expected much worse than what I’ve gotten so far.”

“I blame myself. I’ve given Jon too much leniency. I’ve trusted him too much because he’s never done anything to make me worry. This…” she sighed. “This makes me worry. Watching him with you makes me worry. It’s as though he’s under some kind of spell, and you’re the spell caster.”

“You think the same as I do. That that amount of passion can’t possibly last.”

“So then you have your feet somewhat on the ground.”

“More than Jon would like.”

“Then why are you still with him?”

“Because I love him. Because I’m willing to see where it goes. He could meet someone next week. He could decide to leave me tomorrow. But in the time that he wants me still, I want to be with him. You’ve raised a sweet, thoughtful, and intelligent man. He knows what he wants more than I did at his age. I’m actually blown away by how much he seems to know who he is already.”

“He has further to go I think.”

“Don’t we all?” Sansa asked with a shrug. 

Lyanna just shot her a look and Sansa realized that perhaps it did sound trite to say that, but it was true. At least for her it was. “Lyanna, I was married young. I had a son young. I divorced not long after Benjen was born. My ex rather ruined me I think, for dating. I did it, but I didn’t fall in love. I was always careful about who I let in my life and in Benjen’s. I devoted my life to my son, and I don’t regret it for a minute. It wasn’t until Jon that I realized how much I was missing in my life. How much _love_ I was missing. Both the giving and the receiving of it. I know that saying we all have further to go in figuring out who we are, but it’s true. Jon has shown me that I am capable of loving still, and that there is still a hopeless romantic underneath it all.”

“I just wish you had _told_ me, Sansa. As a Mom you must understand how difficult this was to swallow.”

Sansa nodded. “I do. And I’m sorry.”

“Jon loves you. Any fool can see that. I just ask that you don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t. Not intentionally.”

“I have my reservations still, but I’m not going to stand in your way. I think Jon would push me out of the way if it came down to it.” Lyanna stood. “I’m sure you have things to do…”

Taking the hint, Sansa stood and held out her hand. “Thank you, Lyanna.”

Lyanna nodded and shook her hand quickly. She then led Sansa to the door, wished her a good afternoon, and that was the end of that. 

xxxxxx

Jon rapped on Sansa’s door and wondered if it was too soon to ask her for a key. When the door opened and his girl answered, he let out a sigh, a breath of relief. She looked so cute in her jeans and blue pocket T. She was barefoot and her hair was loose around her shoulders. She was talking, and Jon knew he should be listening, but all he could think was how happy he was to have her to see at the end of the day. She was walking away from him, heading towards the kitchen, and after shutting the door behind him, he caught up with her and hooked his finger into a belt loop on her jeans. He pulled her back against him, grinning when she yelped. He wrapped an arm around her and buried his face in the back of her neck, breathing in deep. 

“You know that feeling when you first come home after being gone all day and you just feel relief?” he murmured and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “That’s how it feels to come here, Sansa. I’m home.”

She spun around in his arms and smiled up at him, that siren smile that drove him wild. He moaned and kissed her hungrily, wondering if they had time for a quickie before heading to their shelter appointment. Would he ever tire of having her? Would he ever feel satiated? 

He pushed some hair from her face and gently kissed the yellowing bruises on her neck. “Did you miss me as much as I missed you today?”

“I saw your Mom today,” she murmured.

He lifted his head and looked at her with wide eyes. “Where?”

“I stopped by to see her.”

Jon tightened his hold on her. “And?”

“And we had a nice talk. We left things in a good place, so don’t look so worried. She has her reservations, but she’s not going to stand in our way.”

“What made you stop by?”

“Because I was tired of hiding out like a coward.”

“Sansa, you weren’t hiding. A lot happened this weekend.”

“I know, but…but your Mom deserved that. After all this time, she deserved the respect of me seeking her out to talk.”

“Just when I think I can’t possibly love you more than I already do, you go and do something like this and it’s like I fall all over again,” he said huskily as he began walking her back to the couch. “What time is it? Do we have time for a quickie?”

She laughed and squirmed right out of his arms. “Nope! We have to be at the shelter in twenty.”

“Goddammit. I really should have planned this better. I wanted to be home earlier but I went downtown to pick up some applications.”

She furrowed her brow. “Applications?”

He nodded. “For a job.”

She sighed. “Jon—”

“A small part-time job won’t interfere with my studies, Sansa. I need to do something. Christ, I haven’t even taken you out on a real date yet.”

She winced. “Well, maybe holster that idea for a bit…”

He reached out and pulled her back into him. “I want to take you out. I want to treat you like the Queen you are. I want to show the world that you are mine and I am yours.”

“There’s time for all that, Jon.”

“You know I hate to wait.”

“You?” she said in mock surprise. “Really? I never knew that about you.”

He grinned and kissed her.

“Where did you get applications?” she asked, slipping out of his arms and heading to the bedroom where she grabbed a pair of socks off the bed. 

He rattled off a few names while she slipped her socks on. “I’m hoping for the coffee shop,” he said. 

She made a face. 

“What?” he asked. 

“Just Joffrey works near there. Right across the street in fact. I don’t relish the idea of you two running into each other.”

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Jon said. “It’d be nice to spit in his coffee. Maybe spill it all over him.”

She came up to him and kissed him. “No. Then he’ll just target you. And get his friends and his shitty family save Tyrion to do the same.”

Jon’s jaw clenched. “He can try.”

“Remember I said this morning to behave?” she asked with a smile. 

“I will,” he said. “But if the opportunity presents itself…”

She shook her head. “Come on,” she said and pulled on his hand. “We have dogs to look at.”


	22. Chapter 22

To say that it was chaotic to look at dogs in a dog shelter was an understatement. Some dogs were outside frolicking in sectioned off gated pens. Some were in kennels within the facility, and some were in rooms that had a doggie door for easy access in and out of specific pens. 

It was loud, it smelled like dog, but the scent of dog pee and dog crap wasn't at least overwhelming. 

The owner, Meredith, asked how they wanted to do this and Sansa showed her the list of dogs she'd seen on the site. Meredith waved her off after taking a quick glance at the list. "All those dogs are in different places within the facility," she said. "Besides, don't you know - the dog picks you, not the other way around."

"Still though," Sansa said, "I would like to see the dogs on my list."

Jon came up beside her, his hand at the small of her back. She looked over at him and he was staring Meredith down. Meredith pursed her lips together and said, "Of course," before leading them down a hall. 

For the next two hours, Sansa and Jon were in and out of rooms and even outside. Sansa had nearly been knocked over a few times by rambunctious dogs, as had Jon, and both had been licked and sniffed at like there was no tomorrow. But still, Sansa had not found her dog. She'd given up hope as they trekked into the very last room. They'd seen all the dogs on her list and none of them was her dog. Jon had bonded with a few, and Sansa had liked some, but either they were too old, too young, or she just didn’t feel that connection to them.

An attendant, introduced as Brian was in the last room, brushing a Doberman, when Meredith brought Sansa and Jon in. Brian just glanced at them, but didn't so much as smile. Sansa sighed and leaned in a bit to Jon. He brushed a kiss on her temple and wound an arm around her. "It's okay," he murmured. "If it's not meant to be today, then we'll look some more. Until then I'll be your watchdog."

She giggled and then happened to see Meredith and Brian staring at them with mouths wide open. Brian pointed at Jon, his shock and a little bit of disgust, apparent. "Isn't that your son?"

Sansa stiffened. Oh, God. Did she look that old? She was kind of tired, and she knew that she probably had bags under eyes at this point, but...that hurt. She looked at Jon, whose eyes were flashing with fury and his jaw was clenched. "No," he said, and it came out almost like a shout, "I am not her son. She is my girlfriend." He stepped forward. "Do you think we could be alone in here, please to spend some time with the dogs?”

Sansa was about to tell him not to bother when a German Shepherd came right up to her and started sniffing at her. She looked down at him - her? And "it" looked up at her with its soulful brown eyes and then sat right down and started panting, its pink tongue showing. Sansa smiled, reached out and let the dog sniff her hand. 

He sniffed and then licked her, and she scratched it behind its ears. 

Brian and Meredith were saying something to Jon, but Sansa wasn't paying any attention. "Who is this?" she asked, looking up at them. 

Meredith came forward. "That is Lady, ma'am."

Sansa winced at the use of ma'am. "What's her story?"

"Family moved away and they couldn't keep her," Meredith said. "Not much of a story, actually. She's well-behaved, four years old, and is good with kids."

"She's well-behaved I _guess_ ," Brian muttered. "She doesn't like _me_."

“I wonder why,” Meredith muttered back. 

Lady licked Sansa's palm, and Sansa smiled. "I'll take her.”

xxxxxxxx

Jon glanced in the backseat of Sansa's car and smiled as he watched Sansa coo at her new dog. Lady was no slouch. She was sucking up all the attention she could from her new owner, and Jon had the thought that he might now have a four-legged furry friend to compete with for Sansa's affections. 

Jon drove them right over to Petco, and they brought Lady inside with them to get her food, toys, a crate, and food and water dishes. 

"Pink or silver?" Sansa asked Jon, holding up two different dog bowls. 

"Silver," he said. 

She narrowed her eyes at him and put them in front of Lady's face. Lady stuck her nose in the pink one and Jon laughed. "I see how it is now. I'm outnumbered!"

Sansa grinned, and put the silver dish back. They picked everything out together, though Sansa did let Lady have the final say in everything. _This is our dog_ , he thought, as they picked out food. _This is like our little family_. They were building something here. Something real. Something lasting. And he felt overcome by it; his heart full to bursting. 

"We need a dog bed," Jon said. 

"We need Robb. We need his truck." 

Fifteen minutes later after a quick phone call to her brother, Robb showed up. When he got close to Sansa and Jon, Lady barked at him and Robb stopped dead in his tracks. "You got yourself a watch dog, all right," he said. "And here I thought Jon had designated himself as such."

Jon wasn't sure to make of that. He liked Robb, but he also got the sense that Robb was still sizing him up. He wasn't even sure if Robb approved of their relationship, but he was wise enough not to say if he didn't at least. Sansa didn't need that. 

Robb helped Sansa pick out a crate, and Jon had to admit that he liked it better when it was just the two of them picking out stuff for Lady. And then, while Sansa paid for the purchases, Jon, Robb, and an employee from Petco helped them bring their things out to Robb's truck. When the employee left them to load up the bed of Robb's truck, it gave them a moment alone. 

"So," Robb said after he and Jon had pushed the box that held Lady's crate onto the bed. "You and my sister."

"Yeah," Jon said. "Me and your sister."

Robb turned to look at him and they just stood there, staring at each other. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of you. You're young, and from what I can tell a bit hot-headed, but I know my sister and she seems happy, really happy. But, I am her big brother so..."

"So if I hurt her you'll kick my ass?"

"Exactly."

"Robb, I can tell you right now that if I ever hurt Sansa it won't be intentionally. I love her. She's my entire world, and all I want to do is make her happy and keep her safe."

Robb nodded. "Fucking Joffrey, right? He's always been an asshole. I never liked him." He loaded in Lady's bed, and Jon took the bags with her dishes, toys, and food while Robb talked. "And I don't think he ever got over Sansa divorcing him. Not because he carries a torch for her or anything, not in the way you might think. He just doesn't like to lose. He doesn't like his 'possessions' getting away from him even if he gets to a point where he can't stand the sight of them anymore. He's been a leashed dog for the past several years and I think that's only because of his mother, his new wife, and grandfather. Plus, because he could keep tabs on Sansa through Benjen, and her relationships never really amounted to much, he was fine. I have no doubt that little asshole saw his chance to be Father of the Year with Benjen. But then he fucked it up when his jealousy got the better of him. The restraining order is just another leash, sort of, but once it's expired..."

"Hence the dog," Jon said. "When I can't be there."

"Make sure Sansa doesn't keep that dog out when she's not home. He's cruel enough to poison it."

Well, that sealed it. Jon wasn't spending the night away from her any time soon. Not with that sort of warning. Any person that would poison an animal in an act of revenge, wouldn't hesitate to do what they could to get to their target. He swallowed the rage he felt building inside him, and looked toward the store. Sansa was at the doors, talking animatedly to some guy who was kneeling in front of Lady. A surge of possessiveness filled him and he passed over the bags to Robb. "You mind?"

Robb took the bags, looking a little confused. "Sure."

Jon jogged to the doors and when they opened, he saw her smiling and laughing at something the man was saying. "Sweetheart, we got the truck loaded. You ready to take Lady home?”

Sansa looked up at him and she appeared to have frozen. Her smile, which had been genuine just seconds before, now looked less so. Jon looked over at the guy she’d been talking to as he stood. He was all right looking, Jon supposed, but mostly what he noticed was how uncomfortable he looked. 

“It was good to see you, Sansa,” he said. “You’ve got a great dog.”

“Thanks, Brian,” Sansa said warmly. 

“Brian” sauntered off and Jon narrowed his eyes at Sansa. “What the hell was that about? Who was he?”

“A former client. Why are you so upset—”

“Why did you look at me like that?” he demanded. “As if you wanted me to shove off.”

“I didn’t need for you to come to my rescue, Jon. Brian is a nice man and—”

“He can fuck off.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Are you jealous?”

“Are you ashamed of me? Is that what that was just about?”

She made a face and Jon had his answer. “Sansa,” he said hoarsely, feeling as though she’d reached into his chest and ripped out his heart. He moved in closer to her, as close as Lady would allow. He wanted to be in her space where she couldn’t hide from him, where she was forced to see him. 

“I wasn’t prepared for the comment at the shelter,” she said. “It was a reminder…” She looked around them and then at him. “Can we talk about this at home?”

“Yes,” he said sternly and gripped her free hand. “ _Home_.”


	23. Chapter 23

For the ride home, Sansa opted to ride with Robb. As she explained to Jon, her brother had come out to help and the least she could do was ride home with him. Robb had said it wasn't a big deal, but Sansa had insisted and hoped her brother got the hint. 

He did. In fact, he kicked at some imaginary dirt, rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at her shyly. "Aw, shucks. My sis loves me."

Sansa rolled her eyes and helped Lady into his truck. 

"Um, okay, so dog in my truck though?" he said as he jogged to the driver's side. 

"Suck it up," Sansa said and got in. 

Jon narrowed his eyes and got in his car. 

"What'd I miss?" Robb muttered as he started up the car. 

"You missed Jon getting jealous over me talking to a former client, and you missed him catching me embarrassed by his calling us out as a couple in front of said former client."

"Where the fuck was I?" 

"Out here, being oblivious."

"How did he 'call you out as a couple'?"

Sansa sighed. "He called me sweetheart and asked if I was ready to take Lady home."

"And that's a problem because...?"

"The look on Brian's face. Jon didn't see it but I did. It went from shock to confusion to just looking like he wanted to get out of there. And earlier, at the shelter, the two cranky employees there thought I was his mother!" 

"You're sensitive about your age."

"Thank you from the Department of the Obvious. But the thing is, I never felt one way or another about my age until Jon."

"Well, that's bullshit. When you turned thirty-one you said, very Winona Ryder from Beetlejuice, 'Now I am _in_ my thirties'."

"That was not Winona Ryder. That sounded like Julie Andrews with a cold," she pointed out. 

Robb pointed at her. "I think you're projecting."

"I think you should shut up when you're talking to me."

"What are you getting pissy with me for?!"

"Because you're here and you can take it," she said petulantly. "Jon was all wounded puppy when he figured it out that for a moment there I was ashamed of him."

"Well, duh! How would you feel if he was ashamed of you?"

"Well, it's bound to fucking happen because everything is falling and drooping as we speak! Will he still want me when my boobs are around my knees and I have to take my teeth out at night?"

Robb just looked confused. "Do you plan on losing your teeth anytime soon?"

"Don't talk sense to me. I rode with you so I could spiral about the bags under my eyes and how I'm obviously a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Crypt Keeper."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Says the man who got Botox after he turned forty."

"Sansa, why are you telling me all this and not Jon?"

She threw her arms up. "Because when I say anything negative about my age he just tells me I'm beautiful!"

"That son of a _bitch_ ," Robb mock seethed. "You want me to kick his ass? I'll run him right the fuck over in the driveway. Telling my sister she's beautiful. I'll fucking end him. Just say the word."

And that, for the moment snapped Sansa out of it. His mock outrage was so over the top it made her laugh. And she continued laughing until there were tears in her eyes. 

Robb laughed with her and then reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Feel better?"

"You got me to laugh at least," she said, wiping tears away. 

"Is it really Jon you're ashamed of? Or are you ashamed of yourself? I mean, he didn't really do anything else but ask if you were ready to go home, right?"

Sansa nodded. "I guess it is me. I'm in love with an eighteen-year-old boy. Man. See? I keep even getting that wrong. I constantly have to correct myself."

"Do you think other people outside of your family and his will think less of you for being with him?"

"Yes. And let's be honest. If I was a man, it wouldn't be an issue. No, wait, I take that back. If I was a man, people would assume Jon was a gold-digger or stupid, and that I was having a mid-life crisis."

"You mean you're not?" Robb teased, and Sansa smacked him on the arm. "Jesus, that hurt!"

"Then be nice."

"Okay okay okay. So what do you think they see when they see you and Jon together?"

"Joan Collins and her pool boy.”

Robb hunched over, laughing. If he had water in his mouth, it would have spewed everywhere. “Please, I want to be there when you tell Jon that.”

“So he can ask me who Joan Collins is?”

He winced. “That’s…yeah. Okay, so I’m not super versed in Joan Collins either, but I mean I remember Mom watching _Dynasty_.”

“I just think that they are wondering what he’s doing with me. Like how can someone that hot want someone old enough to be his mother?”

“Sansa, this is going to sound a little creepy and so I’m apologizing in advance, but…I mean, you’re my sister and all, but you do know that you’re gorgeous, right?”

She sighed. “I know I’m not hideous. I know I’m pretty. But gorgeous? No. And I’ve been without a man for a very long time, Robb. It’s not like they were falling all over themselves to date me. When you’re with someone you expect a certain amount of compliments – or at least you should be getting them. But when you’re alone…”

“So, what you’re saying is you’re not used to it. You do believe him when he tells you you’re beautiful, right?”

She shrugged. “On some level?”

“Sansa…”

She sighed. “I’m trying here, Robb. I haven’t been in a serious relationship for a very long time and now I’m in one with an eighteen-year-old!”

“Maybe what you need to do is stop thinking of him as that eighteen-year-old you’re in a serious relationship with and start thinking of him as Jon, the guy you’re in a serious relationship with. If all you’re going to do is obsess about his age, how are you going to relax enough to enjoy what you have?”

“Well, whaddya know? You’re not just another pretty face.”

“See? Who's not a complete idiot now?"

They laughed together as they pulled into her driveway, Jon pulling in behind them. 

Sansa slipped down from the truck, and helped Lady out from the back while holding onto her leash. Lady wagged her tail and started to go for Jon when he came up to them. He still looked upset and Sansa felt awful for making him feel that way. “Look how she loves you already,” Sansa said with a smile at him. 

He reached down and scratched behind Lady’s ears while staring at Sansa intently. She kissed him quickly and he moaned, chasing her lips when she pulled back. “Help Robb get the stuff,” she said. “We’ll talk later.”

“As you wish,” he said with a smirk. 

“So you’ve seen _The Princess Bride_?” she asked. 

Jon walked backwards, grinning. “It’s a brilliant film, Sansa. Of course I’ve seen it.”

She smiled and then guided Lady to the house. 

xxxxxxxx

Robb and Jon put the crate together in no time flat while Sansa got Lady situated with her food, water, dog bed, and toys. After discarding the box the crate was in into recycling and trashing the stuffing, Robb hugged his sister goodbye and shook Jon’s hand. 

Once the door was closed behind him, Jon locked it and went to the kitchen where Sansa was watching Lady eat. She looked like a proud Mom standing there, watching Lady scarf down her food. She had her hands clasped together under her chin as though this was the most precious thing she’d ever seen. 

Jon glanced at her belly, thinking again of her pregnant with his child. He came up behind her and placed his hand over it and nuzzled at her neck. “Talk to me,” he whispered. 

“I think I sorted it all out in my head,” she said. 

“Great, then tell me, please.”

She put her hand over his on her belly and said, “The look on Brian’s face when you came up to me in Petco, when it sank in that you’d called me sweetheart and asked about going home, he looked shocked, then confused, and then he looked all uncomfortable. He was judging us. Judging me. Just like those two employees at the shelter.”

“I’ve no doubt those two spend all day judging everyone else and even each other.”

“Still. It hurt. I am old enough to be your mother, Jon. Your mom and I are what? A year or two apart?”

“Do you think I’m ashamed of _you_?” he asked in her ear. 

“I think you could be one day.”

He spun her around to face him. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to have wrinkles—”

“So will I. Will you love me less?”

“If we make it that long, no.”

“Stop it,” he whispered harshly and kissed her hard. “Stop talking in terms of us ending.” He tangled his hands in her hair and made her look at him. “Why do you do that? You promised you wouldn’t. You said you’d just let us be—”

“I know I did. I can’t help the doubts and the worries and the fears.”

“What can I do?” he asked. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”

“There’s nothing you can do. I just need time. And patience.” She smirked. “I know you have patience just coming out of your ass.”

He didn’t laugh, just stared down at her as though trying to puzzle out a problem. Or her. “Why do you care so much about what other people think of us? All that matters in our relationship is what we think of it. Do you…do you think I’m smart enough for you?”

Her eyes went wide. “Of course you are!”

“But is it a fear that others will think I’m not? That they’ll think I’m just some impressionable stupid pussy whipped kid—”

“Jon,” she said tersely. 

“Well?”

She sighed. “Maybe a little.”

He dropped his hands and she looked up at him apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“But you think I’m smart,” he said softly. 

“You are, Jon.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what they think. All that matters to me is what you think.”

She rolled her eyes. “How is that even possible that it doesn’t bother you, at least a little bit what others think of us?”

“They’re not in our relationship. They’re not here at the end of the day when it’s just the two of us. They don’t sleep in our bed. They don’t have to deal with your stubbornness. I do.”

She laughed and pushed at him playfully. “I’m stubborn? You make mules look easy-going.”

He pulled her back into him and gripped her chin lightly, making her look at him. “Sansa, listen to me. No one else is in our relationship. That pecker head Brian isn’t here. Let him make the judgments he wants. Let those two at the shelter think what they want too. It. Doesn’t. Matter. You know how we show them we have what it takes to last?”

“How?” she asked. 

He smiled. “We last.”

“But—”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes. More than anything.”

He smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

“But what about when my boobs sag into my stomach—”

He placed his hands on the sides of her face. “Sansa, I don’t care. Everyone gets old.”

“But I'll be old _first_ ,” she said with a pout. 

“Stop being so competitive.”

She laughed. “Jon—”

He kissed her hard and moved his hands down to cover her ass. “You are the single most beautiful woman in the world to me. I fall in love with you more every day, and I’m going to love every wrinkle. Every gray hair. Because all of you belongs to me.”

She smiled and buried her face in his chest, feeling shy under his praise. 

He bent his head and whispered in her ear. “When we’re both in walkers I’m going to chase you around the house just so I can fuck you.”

“Jon,” she whispered. 

He squeezed her ass. “I want you. I want this ass.” He kneaded her flesh. “It’s my ass isn’t it, Sansa?”

She nodded, whimpering slightly. 

“Say it,” he growled in her ear. “Tell me who this ass belongs to.”

“You,” she breathed as she looked up at him. “It belongs to you. All that I am belongs to you.”

With another growl, Jon swept Sansa up in his arms, ignoring Lady’s bark, and started to carry her to the bedroom. “Tonight, I worship you.”


	24. Chapter 24

Jon pushed Sansa’s blouse up as he kissed her hungrily and then he was being pushed away from her with her hands on his chest. “Wait,” she said breathlessly. 

“Wait?” he asked, a bit dazed from their kiss. “Why?”

“If you’re going to, ya know…”

“Take your ass?” he asked with a grin and tried to pull her back in closer. She kept her arms firm, holding him at bay. “Sansa,” he whined. 

“I need to take a shower or something first.”

“Shower? I could take a shower with you,” he said with a broad smile. “That sounds like a great idea in fact.” And he started for the bathroom, dragging her with him. 

She laughed as he brought her in the bathroom and started to undress her between kisses. He then lifted her up on the bathroom counter and spread her legs. He stepped between them, bringing her hands up to wrap around him and he kissed her passionately. Meanwhile, he slid one hand down her body, palming a breast, and then snuck his hand down to her cunt. 

He used his fingers to spread her nether lips and then tease her clit. Sansa moaned into his kiss as he played with her, teasing her with the tip of his middle finger, moving it in circles. She shifted on the counter, seeking more and Jon grinned into their kiss and then broke it. He leaned down and drew her ass to the edge of the counter and spread her labia once again. He flicked his tongue against her clit and her body jerked. She gasped and drew her hands down to her breasts. She cupped them in her hands and started to knead them as Jon licked her. 

He got down on his knees, looking up at her. “Look at me,” he growled. 

Sansa looked down at him, her eyes half-mast, and when she saw his tongue doing its thing on her, she cried out and came. He growled again and stood. He undressed quickly, his cock jutting proudly from between his legs and pointing at her. 

She reached down to take him in hand, but he moved her hand away and placed himself at her opening. “If you touch me now I’m done for,” he told her gruffly and pushed inside her. “Put your hands on me, Sansa, I need to feel you touching me.”

“Where?” she asked. “Where do you want them?”

He grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. “Don’t stop touching me,” he begged. As he began to move inside her, Sansa began to slide her hands over him, teasing him by swiping her thumbs over his nipples and then gliding her hands down over his abs. He shuddered and wound and arm around her back, dragging her closer so that her breasts grazed his chest. She moaned, loving the feel of his hard body against her softer one. She slid her hands up his back and then dragged them down slowly using only her nails. She didn’t exert pressure, but rather tantalized and teased. Jon hissed nonetheless. 

“Kiss me,” he moaned and she pressed her mouth to his. His tongue flicked inside hers and he drank from her, a man starved. “I love you,” he panted. “Fuck, I love you so much, Sansa.”

She smiled languidly and dropped kisses along his jaw. When she got to his ear, she bit at his lobe and whispered, “I love you, too.”

He worked a hand down between them and began rubbing her clit with his thumb. “I need you to cum, baby. I need you to cum on my cock…fuck, yes, I can feel you tightening on me. You’re so close aren’t you, love?” She nodded, her eyes squeezing shut as she bit down on his shoulder gently.

“Bite me,” he gasped. “Bite me when you cum. Mark me.” She felt his arm tighten on her back. “Cum, Sansa, please baby, cum for me…”

She did, biting down hard on his shoulder, screaming into his skin. 

“Oh fuck, fuck…yes, that’s it…God, Sansa, yes,” he moaned. He drew his hand away from her clit and gripped her him, pulling her even closer to him so that their bodies were flush up against each other. The arm around her back moved up so that his hand delved into her now sweat-dampened hair. He held himself still inside her, his whole body clenching, and then he let go. His body jerked as he came deep inside her. He grunted in her ear. He chanted her name. 

“God,” he gasped. 

“I know,” she murmured, leaning into him. 

He didn’t move. He held her this way, tight and snug against him for a long while. 

“Jon?” 

“Hmmm?”

“Are we going to shower?”

He nodded, his head moving just a bit, tickling her cheek with his beard. Yet still he didn’t move. 

“What are you thinking?” she asked. 

“That I can be buried inside you like I am right now and it’s not enough. I want more. I always want more. Want you closer.” He moved just enough to look at her, untangling his hand from her hair and cupping the side of her face, smoothing his thumb across her cheek. “How can I be this close to you and have it still not be enough?” he rasped. 

“I could feel your heartbeat,” she said, running her fingers through his curls. He moaned and his eyes shuttered closed, stretching into her touch like a cat. “Pressed together like that, I could feel it.”

His eyes popped opened and he smiled boyishly and drew his arms around her, pushing her into him. “Yes,” he whispered in awe after a moment. “I can feel yours, too.”

She smiled and tapped out the rhythm with her finger against his back. 

After a while, he slowly moved away, and helped her down. He kissed her softly. “Now we shower,” he murmured and drew her to the stall by the hand. 

He opened the door to the shower and turned it on. When he was satisfied it was warm enough, he stepped inside and took hold of both her hands and pulled her inside with him. He maneuvered her under the spray and Sansa let the water pour down over her, completely soaking her hair and body. Jon got the shampoo from the ledge near them and poured some in his hand. He then had her turn around and he lathered her hair up, gently massaging her scalp as he did. 

“Rinse, sweetheart,” he murmured and she turned around and closed her eyes. She felt the bubbles slide down over her ears, temporarily blocking them and she smiled. She felt Jon running his hands through her hair as if making sure to get all the shampoo out and then he tugged her out from under the water and kissed her. “Conditioner?” he asked and then nibbled on her bottom lip. 

She smiled lazily. “No. I know I’m just going to shower again tomorrow. Your turn.”

Sansa moved him to stand under the spray and she repeated the same process for him as he had done for her. After, he grabbed her poof and pumped some of her body wash onto it. He lathered it up and with a lecherous grin began to wash her, starting at her right shoulder and down her arms, getting every nook and cranny. She giggled when he paid special attention to her breasts, and then over her stomach and down to her pussy. He kneeled down and did her legs and feet and then had her get under the spray to rinse. He then pulled her against him and slid the poof down over her butt cheeks, and then swiped up between them. He leaned down and kissed her as he dropped the poof to the floor of the shower and began to rub at her rosebud with the pad of his finger. 

“How’s that feel, sweetheart?” he asked softly. 

She nodded, humming, and kissed the underside of his jaw. He growled and kissed her deeply while continuing to stroke her. Meanwhile, he was growing hard again; Sansa could feel it against her stomach. “Let me try something, baby. You ready?”

“What are you going to try?” she asked. 

“I’m just going to put the tip of my finger in your ass. That okay?”

She nodded and bit her lip, forcing herself to relax. Slowly, and gently, Jon pushed the tip of his finger inside her. She gasped. He froze. “Okay?” he asked. 

She nodded. “Just feels different…I’m okay.”

“I’m going to work more in, all right?”

She nodded, closing her eyes as she tucked her head under his chin. She could feel his Adam’s apple against her lips and she kissed it. He moaned and more of his finger slipped inside her. “Still with me?” he asked softly. 

She nodded and more went in, to the knuckle she guessed. 

“How do you feel, baby? Talk to me, love. Am I hurting you?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay, Jon. It’s just different is all.”

“I’m going to move it in and out, okay?”

She nodded again. Slowly, he moved his finger in and out of her and she focused on relaxing. It wasn’t as bad as she thought, but this was his finger. What would his cock feel like? 

“You’re gripping me so tight,” he groaned. “God, my cock is going to snap off in there.”

She giggled which caused his finger to move in deeper and she moaned and pressed her face into his neck. “Jon,” she sighed. 

He slipped his finger out of her. “Kiss me, baby,” he said huskily and she lifted her head to kiss him slow and sweet. 

“Let’s dry off.”

She nodded and he shut off the shower before they stepped out. Sansa grabbed two towels off the rack and handed one to him. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Jon asked, watching her closely. She smiled. “I’m fine, Jon. I think we should use the lube though.”

“That goes without saying. I’ll grab it, sweetheart. Why don’t you get on the bed for me, baby?”

She hurried off to the bedroom, thinking she should grab her phone from the other room when Jon returned. “Let me just get my phone,” she said. 

“Why?” 

“I have an alarm set to remind me to take my birth control.”

“I’ll get it. Get on the bed, love.”

She smirked and bent over it. “Should I assume this position?”

He laughed and swatted her ass. “Sit down and spread those legs for me. I want that cunt again.”

She bit her lip at his words and perched herself at the edge of the bed the way he wanted. Laying back, she decided to put on a bit of a show for him and slipped her hand down to her cunt and started to finger herself. 

When Jon returned, she watched him stop in his tracks, her phone in his hand, and just stare. He set the phone down on the table across the room and walked over to her slowly, his eyes on her cunt. “God, look at you. My wanton woman spread out for me…” 

He spat in his hand and started to work his cock. He moaned. “Fuck, Sansa, you get me so hot.” He bent over her, pushed her hands away and sucked on her clit. He ate her hungrily as though he hadn’t just had her not twenty minutes ago. 

She wet his beard in no time flat, kneading her breasts, moaning, and gyrating her hips. “Jon,” she whimpered. 

He pulled her up and kissed her, letting her taste herself on him. Then he turned her so that she was bent over the bed, and spread her legs. He dropped kisses on her back while he rubbed her ass and pussy. “You ready for me, Sansa?” he rasped in her ear. “You ready for me to take that ass?”

She nodded, feeling her whole body hot with need. She felt him leave and looked over her shoulder at him. She watched him pour lube in his hand and then coat his cock. He came back to her and bent over her again, nuzzling at her neck while his cock poked at her ass. 

“If it hurts and you want me to stop you tell me to stop, okay?” he asked. 

“Okay,” she whispered. 

“All right?”

“Just nervous.”

“Relax for me, baby. Play with that pretty pussy for me.”

That was a good idea. She slipped her hand down to her pussy and started to play with herself. She froze when she felt his cock at her asshole. He placed a hand on her back. “Relax….”  
She focused on her breathing and then winced when he pushed inside her. She gripped the bedspread with her free hand. 

Slowly, Jon pushed forward until just the head was inside her. “Okay, baby?”

She nodded and gasped out, “Keep going.”

He did, and then stopped and slowly began to saw in and out of her. He stopped. “San?”

She breathed and started to finger herself again. “Keep going.”

The pressure was lessening. The pinch was easing the more he moved. There was a bit of pain but it wasn’t wholly unpleasant. In fact, it felt kind of, well, _good_. He used short strokes, never pushing much further and Sansa was grateful for that. This was enough for now. 

“You feel so good on my dick, San,” he moaned. “So fucking tight… I fucking love your ass. God, I wish you could see what it looks like, my dick between your ass cheeks. _Fuck_ …”

Sansa moaned, between him in her ass and her fingers on her clit, she was beginning to feel an orgasm building. 

“Does that feel good, baby? Do you like my dick in your ass? My ass, right? That’s my ass…”

She moaned again, too far gone at this point to form words. This had not at all been her experience with Joffrey!

“I’ve taken your ass now, and it belongs to me. _You_ belong to _me_ ,” Jon grunted and started moving faster. He got in deeper and she gasped. He froze. “Okay?”

“Yes, don’t stop!” she cried out. 

He continued on and soon, she came, screaming into the mattress. 

“Oh, God, I can feel you cumming…” he gasped. And then he roared, "I'm cummng!"

She felt it and groaned. Her knees were wobbly by the time he slowly pulled out of her, and she winced at the feel of it. She heard Jon hiss. 

He then helped her stand and turned her in his arms. He moved her hair from her face and framed her face in his hands. “Are you all right” he asked, looking worriedly at her. 

She smiled. “I’m perfect. That was not at all like it was with—”

“Don’t say his name,” Jon whispered and kissed her fiercely. “Get on the bed for me, baby. I’m gonna get a washcloth and clean us both up, okay?”

She nodded and climbed onto the bed, staring up at the canopy. Holy crap. That had actually been rather incredible. Her ass felt a little sore, but it wasn’t like the first time when she felt as though it was falling out. 

He came back with a washcloth, proudly announcing he’d washed his dick already. Sansa laughed and made a face at him which then caused him to laugh. He had her roll onto her front and gently, he washed her ass of his cum and then rubbed gently at her clit.

He pressed a kiss to each cheek and then went back to the bathroom to presumably put the washcloth in the hamper. When he came back and got on the bed beside her, he gathered her in his arms. 

“Lady!” she exclaimed, and scrambled out of his arms and off the bed. She grabbed her robe on her way out and found Lady on the couch, looking a little forlorn. 

“Poor baby,” she cooed as she petted her dog. Jon, in his boxers, rolled his eyes. 

“San, you want something to eat?” he asked. “We never had dinner.”

“Sure! There’s leftover pasta in the fridge from last night.”

They had dinner at the table, chatting over this and that while Lady chewed on one of her snacks at their feet. And then they put her in her crate and went back to bed hand-in-hand. As soon as they were inside, Jon swept her up in his arms, and it started all over again. This time though, he did not take her ass. 

Sated and utterly spent, Sansa fell asleep with Jon’s arms wrapped tightly around her while he whispered in her ear that she was his and he would never let her go.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves*

Sansa jerked awake at the sound of her phone ringing. It was Benjen; she could tell by the ring tone she’d assigned him, and she reached over to the nightstand to grab it. Only it wasn’t there. Living room. She’d left it in the living room. She clambered out of the bed, grabbed her robe from the floor and flung it on, barely registering Jon grunting her name from amidst the pile of blankets. She was about to pass through her door and into the hall when she saw her phone on the table near her door out of the corner of her eye.

She grabbed it quickly, trying to remember when she’d brought it in from the living room, and answered it. “Hey, baby,” she said, her voice a little hoarse from sleep still.

“Hi.”

He didn’t sound unpleasant, but he didn’t sound pleasant either. Sansa slipped from the room, ignoring Jon who was now sitting up in bed and looking at her.

She padded down the hall to the kitchen. “How are you doing?” she asked.

“Fanfuckingtastic,” he said sarcastically.

Sansa frowned as she went to the crate to let Lady out. “Benjen.”

“Is he there?”

“Yes," she said, feeling as though she was a teenager again, answering to her parents for any mischief she'd gotten into (which hardly ever happened). Then, trying to sound cheerful, "But guess who else is?”

“Oh God, I don’t know. Not another one of my friends I hope.”

“Benjen Allistair Stark,” she scolded. Just what she needed. Her son thinking she was a whore just like his father. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, and to his credit, he did sound actually sorry. “Who else is there?”

Sansa padded over to the screen door in the kitchen and opened it. Lady stood at the threshold and sniffed around a bit and then looked up at her as if to ask, _Yeah, and_

Sansa stepped out onto the deck, hoping that Lady would follow. She did, and Sansa said, “That’s a good girl.”

“Who’s a good girl?” Benjen asked suspiciously.

“I got a dog, honey. Her name is Lady. She’s a German Shepherd.”

Silence, then, “You got a dog?”

“I did. She’s beautiful, too. And I think she’ll be a great guard dog.”

Another silence followed by a soft, “Is that because of Dad?”

Sansa sighed. “Yes.”

“Did he do anything else?”  
“Benjen, don’t worry—”

“What did he do, Mom?”

She didn’t really want to trash Joffrey to his son, but on the other hand, Joffrey’s actions did that well enough on their own. Benjen could find out anyway, and not from her, but from anyone else who knew about it. “When I came home the other day someone had written ‘whore’ in white paint across the front door. Uncle Robb painted over it for me."

“Mom,” Benjen whispered. “Did you call the cops?”

“I did. But they can’t do anything since no one saw it happen. I’ve seen them pass by the house a bit more though. So, I got a dog.”

“You need an alarm system, too.”

“Yes, that has been suggested as well.”

“By Jon?”

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“Well, the pecker head isn’t wrong there,” he muttered.

“Benjen.”

“Mom, I don’t really think you can get on me for my language considering. Besides, I’m eighteen.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

There was yet another silence and she watched Lady roam the perimeter of the fenced-in backyard, no doubt looking for a prime place to pee.

“I want to come home this weekend,” Benjen mumbled.

Sansa’s heart lept with relief and joy. “You do?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want _him_ around.”

“He won’t be,” Sansa said quickly. “It’ll be just us. Or us and Uncle Robb or Uncle Tyrion if you want. Whatever you want, honey.”

“Just us I think to start,” he said.

“Do you want me to pick you up? I could come and get you.”

“I can take a bus.”

“Benjen, you don’t have to take a bus. I can come and—”

“I want to take the bus, Mom.”

She nodded. “Okay, okay. At least let me pay for it.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Find out how much it is and I’ll transfer some money into your account.”

“Okay. Well, I better get ready for class…”

“I’m so glad you called, Benjen. I can’t wait to see you, baby.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll see you Friday. I’ll text you the details.”

“Sounds good. I love you.”

“Yup,” he said, which hurt, and then he was gone.

Sansa sighed, feeling a bit emotional, and she started when she felt a pair of arms come around her. She turned into Jon, letting him hold her. He’d put on his boxers and his shirt.

“Benjen?” he murmured into her hair.

She nodded. “He’s coming home this weekend.”

“That’s great, San. See? He’s coming around.”

She looked up at him and made a face. “He doesn’t want you around.”

Jon just stared at her for a few and then looked away, jaw clenching, and his arms tightening around her. “Okay,” he said tightly.

“He still needs time.”

“Yeah, I know.”

She burrowed back into him, thinking of Benjen and how happy she was that he'd reached out. That he was coming home to see her. Maybe they could start to fix this, maybe she could help him try to accept her relationship with Jon. Maybe. She didn't want to get too ahead of herself. First and foremost, she needed to try and gain Benjen's trust in her again. 

"Come on, I got Lady her food while you were talking to Benjen," Jon said, pulling away and steering her to the house. 

"Thank you," she said with a smile. 

"Of course," he said and whistled for Lady who, surprisingly, came bounding right over to them. "I'll put the coffee on," Jon said. 

"I'm going to use the bathroom," Sansa said as she placed her phone on the kitchen table.

After using the toilet and splashing water on her face, she was drying off when it suddenly hit her: She didn’t take her birth control pill the night before. Heart racing, she fumbled with the medicine cabinet and opened it, grabbing her packet of pills. She opened the egg-shaped container and...nope. She didn't take it. And this was not a good time in her cycle to have forgotten it. 

It all fell together in her head – why her phone was on the table near the door in her bedroom instead of on her nightstand. She'd asked Jon to bring it in so she'd hear the alarm go off except _she didn't hear the alarm go off._

“Oh God, no,” she said and rushed down to the kitchen. She snatched her phone off the table to check the alarm. 

“San?” Jon asked, sounding concerned. "What's up?"

The alarm was set still. The volume had clearly been up since she’d heard the phone well enough when Benjen had called. 

How had she managed to miss it going off the night before? It had to have been during the third time her and Jon had been having sex. He’d been buried inside her cunt, her legs up over his shoulders –

“Oh my God,” she said as she walked away from him one hand on her forehead. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

“Sansa!” Jon grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him. He looked worried. “Baby, what is it?”

“My pill. I never heard the alarm go off. Jon, I didn’t take my pill last night and it’s not a good time in my cycle to not have taken it!” Panic was setting in.

Lady barked and came bounding over, pushing at Sansa’s hand. She petted her absentmindedly while her mind just whirled. “I can’t take Plan B. I did once and it made me sick. Oh my God, this isn’t happening.”

“San, calm down,” Jon said and put his hands over her shoulders.

“Calm down? Jon, you came inside me twice last night.”

“Technically three times—”

“That one doesn’t matter,” she said through clenched teeth. 

"Okay, okay, look. That doesn't meant you're automatically pregnant, right? I mean, I don't know how those things work exactly--"

"It means that the chances are greatly increased that I could have gotten pregnant last night!" she exclaimed, nearly hysterical at this point. "That means until all this gets sorted and I get on a new cycle of pills, you're wearing a condom."

He groaned and Sansa glared at him. "Did you just _groan_ at me over having to wear a condom?"

"San, I just—"

"Sometimes, you remind me exactly how old you are," she hissed and marched down to her bedroom. 

"Sansa, what the fuck?" Jon demanded, following her. 

Tears sprang to her eyes and she spun to face him once in her bedroom. "Do you have any idea what a disaster this is, Jon? I could have gotten pregnant last night and you're _groaning_ about having to wear a condom!"

"Sansa, it's not a _disaster_ —"

Her eyes went wide. "Jon! You're _eighteen_. You're in _college_. I'm going to be fucking _forty_ in a few months. This is not the time for me or for you to be thinking about having a baby! We talked about this!"

"Yeah, and I believe we said adoption was an option. Wouldn't having our own be better?"

"Not now! Not when everything is still a mess! I said five years and we'd think about getting married. Five years is enough time to make sure that we're solid. And I said adoption of an older child, not a pooping, crying, wake you up in the middle of the night _baby_." 

He pointed at himself. "I'm solid here, Sansa. I'm all in this relationship. I'm not going anywhere. You're the one that keeps thinking I will. I want a life with you, Sansa. Marriage, kids - I want it all. I want _you_ forever."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

He furrowed his brow. "What?"

"What did you do to the alarm? Did you mess with it?"

Now he looked positively thunderous. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you honestly think I would do something like that? Sansa...that...Jesus." He shook his head and walked away from her, leaving her alone in the bedroom. 

Sansa sighed, feeling awful now, and sat down on her bed. She leaned forward, her elbows on her thighs and rubbed her forehead. Okay, so perhaps she had gone too far in blaming Jon for doing something to her alarm. It had been set and the volume up. She had probably just not heard it. It was an accident, and one that hopefully would not result in her getting pregnant. _Think positive_ , she thought. 

Jon came back, his hair looking neater, his face a bit damp. He shoved on his jeans and just looked at her. He was angry, and rightfully so. 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I panicked...I'm _panicking_."

He put his hands on his hips and just stared down at her. "I wouldn't have done something like that to you."

"I know. I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m freaking out.”

He bolted forward, grabbed her hands, and yanked her up into his arms. "You drive me crazy," he murmured, holding her tight. 

"Ditto."

"We're gonna deal with whatever comes one step at a time, okay?"

She nodded, not because she necessarily agreed, but because it was easier than arguing that she would deal with it, not him. If she got pregnant, she would seriously consider her options. 

"I'm not leaving you," he rasped. "I wish you could just believe me when I say that."

She did, too. 

"What can I do right now?" he asked. "Tell me what I can do to make you feel better and I'll do it."

"There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do. Until I'm sure I'm not pregnant..."

"When's Benjen coming? Let's focus on that."

"This weekend. He's going to take a bus."

“Friday to Sunday?”

“I presume so.”

“And I’m not allowed here.”

“No.”

“What do you think you’ll do?”

“Bribe him with all his favorite things?”

“Your shepherd’s pie and homemade pizza?”

“Yup.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Feeling better?”

“Not at all.”

“Well, at least you’re honest,” he said with a little laugh. 

She looked up at him. “How are you so calm about this? Jon, we’re talking about a baby.”

“I know what we’re talking about.”

“Do you? Because they cry in the middle of the night. They need to be fed, diapered, washed, and looked after constantly. It’s taking care of a little person who will one day grow into a big person. They cost money. They take up time and suck your energy dry. Do you know how much time I’ve spent lying awake at night worrying about Benjen? And he’s a good kid! What if we had a menace?”

Jon burst out laughing. “No kid of ours would be menace, Sansa.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. With you as their mom? And I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but with me as a dad?”

“Toot toot!”

He laughed again and kissed her. “Baby, we’ll figure it out.”

“Don’t say baby!” she whined. 

Laughing, he kissed her again and framed her face with his hands. “One step at a time, okay? First we get through today and figure out what you need to do, and then we’ll worry about the next step.”

She nodded and tucked her head under his chin. It was sound advice, and it was easy for him to say. He wasn’t going to be the one that had to carry it around for nine months…unless of course she terminated the pregnancy. But would Jon be on board with something like that? The guy who talked about forever and marriage and kids? Probably not. But…but he might not have a choice. 

She didn’t think he was thinking beyond the moment and how romantic it would be to have a baby with her. Oh, to be eighteen again and fantasize about all those wonderful things you’d do with the person you loved. Except…what man thought of those things at Jon’s age? 

His devotion and certainty that this was it, that she was what he wanted for the rest of his life was at times overwhelming and scary, and at other times so comforting and reassuring – this wonderful boy – _man_ – loved her. And he worshiped her. But she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d still feel the same way with a baby waking him up three times a night when he had school in the morning. And what if he grew to resent her for it? 

“Stop thinking so hard,” he muttered. 

“I need to get ready for work,” she mumbled and pushed out of his arms. 

He grabbed her to him before she could get very far and looked down at her almost sternly. “Do not push me away, Sansa.”

“I’m not,” she protested. 

He sighed, not looking convinced. “I’ll come by after class is out, yeah?”

“Sure.”

He smirked. “Sure? I just get a ‘sure’?”

“Why yes, bestest boyfriend in the whole wide world, I would love for you to come over tonight!” she said with over-the-top enthusiasm and a smile that was more than a little manic looking. 

He shook his head, but he was grinning. “I like the bestest boyfriend bit. Keep that.”

“Heh, yeah, we’ll see,” she said and started for the bathroom. He lunged after her and she squealed and ran to it, shutting the door before he could grab her. 

“I love you!” he called through the door. “Say I love you too, Jon!”

“I love you too, Jon!” she mimicked. 

She heard him laughing to himself and then she started the shower and worried in peace.


	26. Chapter 26

The next few days went by in a whirl. Between work, worrying about the possibility of a pregnancy, and preparing for Benjen coming to visit, Sansa’s mind was definitely elsewhere. Jon, too, had his own things going on. Like schoolwork and getting that job at the coffee shop.

His first night training and he must have sent Sansa a dozen texts lamenting the fact that he was at work and not with her. She told him if he kept texting her he would have plenty of time with her because he would get fired. He assured her that everyone was on their phones during lulls, but Sansa did not want to spend the night texting so she told him she was going to read for a while and shut her phone off.

When he came over after, he sought retribution by barely letting her out of bed. Sansa was pretty sure that they were going to go through the box of condoms before it was safe for him to not have to wear them. And, because she was paranoid, she figured after Benjen left he would be fine to not wear them again.

Jon, not surprisingly, was already expressing some anxiety about not being able to see her for almost three days while Benjen was visiting and kept asking if it was possible he could sneak in after Benjen went to bed. Sansa told him no every time, and she got the feeling he thought if he kept asking he’d eventually wear her down. He didn’t. But she had a funny feeling he wasn't going to give up anyway. 

Then, finally, it was Friday and Sansa was pacing in the living room as she waited for Benjen to arrive. She’d cleared her schedule for the day so she could focus on him and him alone. She put everything that was Jon-related away – like some of his clothes, the toothbrush he’d brought over, his comb, the scissors he used to trim his beard, and a few other toiletries. She then made brownies, which were Benjen's favorite. 

Lady barked and then growled when Benjen finally strolled through the door; the bus stop was only a few blocks from the house and he'd insisted on walking. He dropped his bag near the door, Sansa scolded Lady gently and told her this was Benjen and she was to protect him, too. Her dog went over with her and sniffed at him, and then licked Benjen’s hand.

“You’ve got her stamp of approval,” Sansa said with a laugh. “What do you think? Isn’t she cute?”

Benjen scratched the top of Lady’s head and nodded. “Yeah, she is cute. And obviously a good watchdog.”

Sansa smiled. “She is. Though I can sometimes do without her barking at everything.”

Benjen lifted his head and sniffed the air. “Do I smell brownies?”

Sansa beamed. “You do! And I put chocolate chips in them just the way you like it.”

“Someone’s sucking up,” Benjen muttered as he looked back down at Lady.

Sansa’s smile fell. “Benjen…I’m trying here. I know you’re not happy with me—”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to date Jon?” Benjen blurted out, snapping his head up to look at her. Actually, it was more like a glare. It was obvious that had been weighing on his mind for quite some time. 

“Because I didn’t actually want to date him. I thought it would end just as quickly as it had started. I thought of it as more of a fling. A fling that should have never happened.”

“So then why did you keep fooling around with him if you knew it should have never happened?”

“Because I fell in love with him, Benjen. I didn’t want to admit that I had at first because I was worried about what you would think and how you would feel, not to mention his mother and the rest of our family, including what your father would have to say—”

“Well fuck him forever anyway,” Benjen said angrily.

Sansa frowned. “Have you spoke to him at all?”

Benjen gaped at her. “No. And what in the hell could I possibly have to say to him after what he did to you? He assaulted you, Mom. He tried to choke you!”

“I know. And I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you. I just think that perhaps he needs to know this, Benjen. Your father…he has a lot of problems. Maybe if he knew how upset you were it would give him the impetus to finally change. He does love you, in his own way..."

“Once an abuser always an abuser,” Benjen declared. 

“What do you plan to do then? He’ll want to hear from you eventually.”

“He’s called me all week. At least twice a day. I haven’t bothered to answer or call back.”

“You’re going to have to talk to him sooner or later, Benjen.”

“Do you want me to talk to him, Mom? Be back in his presence? How can I after knowing how he is? What he is?” His voice cracked with emotion at the end and Sansa reached out to him only to have him back away from her and shake his head.

She dropped her arms, hurt, but also knowing that she had to give him some space still. “I never wanted you to be subjected to him, Benjen. That’s why I always had your Uncle Tyrion and Bronn with you when you’d visit. I figured when you were an adult, you would eventually figure things out about him." She shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. As long as he treated you well and you were always safe, I didn't want to taint you against him. You have always loved your Dad. He should at least know that you want him to back off until you’re ready to talk. Otherwise he won't stop." And no doubt blame me, she thought. 

“My Dad is a wife-beater and my Mom is fucking my former best friend,” Benjen said bitterly, folding his arms across his chest. “Welcome to adulthood!”

“Do you know if he hits Margaery?” Sansa asked.

“No. But if he was so willing to do what he did to you it stands to reason he probably has or does the same to Margaery.”

“Not necessarily,” Sansa said slowly, though she did have her doubts. Margaery didn’t seem the type to put up with crap like that for long if it was happening, on the other hand she didn’t know Margaery all that well. She was the woman Joffrey had cheated on her with after all, so it wasn’t as though Sansa had really taken the time to get to know her well. All she’d ever cared about was that Margaery was good to Benjen and she always had been. Though, she noted, Benjen had never taken to calling Margaery ‘Mom’ as Joffrey had threatened he would.

“Your father….well, Benjen, he hates me. He has always tolerated me because of you and because he knew that no court would give him full custody of you, but he has no love for me.”

“Mom, are you seriously trying to tell me right now that you just what – bring out his violent side?”

Sansa sighed. “I guess I am.”

“You do realize that what he did was not your fault, right? He can be as angry with you as he wants, but he has no right to choke you.”

“I do know that. And maybe he does hit Margaery and we just don’t know it because they hide it very well. Maybe I’m putting how I would react if she was getting hit on how I reacted when he hit me that one time. Maybe I think she’s the sort of person to leave right away, and maybe she’s just not.”

“That’s a whole lotta maybes, Mom.”

“I don’t have any answers regarding your father and the things he does. I do know that he targets people for his wrath when he’s displeased with them. And I was a target. I'm still a target.”

“Why were you a target, Mom?”

She sighed. “Because your father and I were forced to get married. It was the right thing to do because I was pregnant with you.”

“I’m sorry, when did we get in the wayback machine to the 1950s?”

“You’ve met your Gramma Stark right?” Sansa asked dryly. “And your Granpa Lannister?”

Benjen sighed. “Yeah, I have. Okay, I get it. They wanted it and so you did it. Did he…” He scrunched up his face as though in pain. “Did he even want me?”

"We were young, Benjen--"

"So, no. He didn't. Did you?" He held up a hand. "No, don't answer that."

"Benjen, you are my entire world. Everything I've done has been for you. Never doubt how much I love you, please." 

"Then why Jon, Mom? Why my best friend?"

She sighed and sat down on the couch. Lady came and laid down at her feet. "I was attracted to him and he felt the same. It just...it happened. I wish I had a better answer for you. We developed real feelings for each other. I love him. But you, Benjen, you come first before him always."

"I just wish you had told me what was going on. Carrying on in secret like you did for an entire fucking summer...you lied to me. You betrayed me. You both did.”

“Jon wanted to tell you. He wanted to tell everyone and have us be out in the open. I was still thinking it was just going to end and, honestly, I was afraid of how you'd react. I know my actions were wrong. I know I should have been honest with you and by not doing so I disrespected you." She wiped the tears away that now fell. "I'm so sorry, Benjen. ”

“You didn’t want to stop either,” he murmured. 

“I would have stopped had you asked me to,” Sansa said softly.

“Would you stop now if I asked?”


	27. Chapter 27

Sansa had had a feeling this was coming. And she'd pondered all week what she was going to say to her son so as not to hurt him further. "Benjen, I know that this is hard for you to accept and understand,” she said. “And I am deeply sorry for having kept it from you. I made mistakes, but they weren't intentional. They weren't meant to hurt you." She heaved a deep sigh, gathering her strength for what she had to say next. "Benjen, I love Jon. I love him very much, and while I would give him up if you asked me to, I'd hoped that you wouldn't ask that of me. He makes me happy, and it's been a long time since I've had someone in my life, romantically, that has made me this happy."

Benjen fell silent and Sansa braced herself for the worst. For Benjen to tell her that he didn't care, that he still wanted her to give Jon up. She could already feel her heart start to break at the thought of having to break up with Jon. Could she even do that now without falling to pieces? He was so much a part of her now. And though she had her doubts and her worries about their longevity, she still wanted to cherish the time they had together. 

"I'm not really asking you to give him up," Benjen mumbled, looking down at the floor. "I just wanted to know if you would for me."

"Benjen, I would do _anything_ for you."

“This doesn’t meant that I like it.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“And it doesn’t mean that I’ll ever like it.”

“I know that, too.”

“And I don’t want him around when I’m here for a while, okay? I need some time.”

She nodded again. “Done.”

Benjen scratched behind his ears. “So, um, what about those brownies?”

Sansa smiled and stood. “How about I take you out for lunch?”

"Can we go to Kitty's?"

"We can go anywhere you want, Benjen."

He smirked. "You _are_ sucking up."

She smiled warmly at him. "Guilty."

xxxxxxxxxx

Jon passed by his Mom on his way to get a glass of water after having finished up mowing the lawn for her. She looked up at him from where she was on her laptop paying bills at the table and smirked. "The prodigal son returns to mow the lawn!"

"And clean the drain pipes," he chimed in as he turned on the faucet and stuck a glass under it. "What else would you like me to do while I'm here?" He shut the faucet off, his glass now full and drained the whole thing in a few swallows. 

"Feeling guilty for neglecting your poor Mom for the past week?" she asked with an arched brow. 

He grinned sheepishly as he set his glass in the sink. "Maybe a little."

She laughed. "Liar." She sat back in her chair and appraised him. "How's Sansa?"

Jon couldn't help the smile that came whenever her name was mentioned. "She's good. She got a German Shepherd from a shelter. Named her Lady."

"That's not a bad idea after what her ex-husband did."

Jon grimaced. What he wouldn't give to watch Lady rip Joffrey's face off... "Yeah, she feels safer."

"And so do you?" His mother asked knowingly. 

Jon ducked his head, grinning. "Yeah."

"Granted, she's had you over every night to watch over her..."

"Well...yeah."

"You moving in?"

Jon rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I be honest?"

"I would expect nothing less, son."

"I want to."

"You don't think maybe it's too soon?"

He frowned. "Now you sound like Sansa."

"Jon, I know you love her with all the passionate intensity of an eighteen-year-old, but there is something to be said for taking your time and enjoying everything as it unfolds and not rushing headlong into everything."

“Why do people say that? That I love her like an eighteen-year-old. How do you know I’m not going to love her the same when I’m older as I do now?”

Lyanna sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Well, I don’t know that, but your first love is always wrought with more passion and intensity than it is when you get older.”

“Did you love my Dad intensely?”

“I did.”

“And was he your first love?”

“No.”

“So then…?”

"My first love was when I was sixteen. I met your dad at twenty. Not that much of a difference."

Jon pursed his lips together, frustrated that his age was forever used against him. It was the reason Sansa believed he would leave her. It was the reason he was in love to the point of madness. Did no one past eighteen love like this? Want someone like this? He didn’t believe that.

"At what age then is it that what I feel is considered real?"

Lyanna shot him a look. "Jon."

“I’m going to marry her, Mom,” he said and it was a vow.

“I had a feeling that was coming,” Lyanna muttered. “Have you told Sansa this?”

“Yes. She doesn’t seem to believe me.”

“Well, while you might not need time to adjust to your relationship with Sansa, perhaps she does. Not everyone is like you, Jon. And the woman you’re in love with deserves the respect of some time to adjust. You’ve both had a lot thrown at you over the past week. I think you need to slow down. There is no finish line, you know.”

Maybe there wasn’t a finish line, but he wasn’t certain of Sansa yet. Not completely. He knew she loved him, but she had doubts about them and he feared she’d be the one to walk away because she feared he would do it first. And now with Benjen home…

What if Benjen asked her to choose?

All week he’d been fearing Benjen’s visit. And with every minute that passed he worried more. It was partly the reason he had come over to help his Mother with a few things around the house. To keep himself busy, to keep himself from finding a way to see her and have her reassure him that she was his and staying his. 

And on the other end of that was him wanting Sansa and Benjen to work this out. He wanted Sansa happy, and she would never be completely happy without her son. Also, if she and Benjen worked this out then maybe eventually he and Benjen could, and it'd be like they were a family of sorts. And he wanted that. One big happy family. 

"Jon?"

Jon looked over at his Mom. "Yeah?"

"What else is going on, honey? How are your classes?"

"My classes are fine, Mom. I had a test this week. Aced it." 

"That's great! What else? How are the friends you made?"

"Also fine. Did I tell you I got a job?"

Lyanna frowned. "No. Are you sure it won't cut into your studies?"

"Not at all. It's part-time and I'm only working ten to fifteen hours a week."

Lyanna tapped the table in front of the chair that was next to her. "Come sit. Tell me about it."

Jon sat down and proceeded to tell his Mom about his new job. He had to work tonight in fact. More things to do to keep his mind off his worries. 

_Yeah, right._

xxxxxxx

 _I love you. I miss you. I hope everything is going well?_

Sansa smiled when she read the text Jon sent her, and so she took the time to answer him in the bathroom of the bookstore Benjen had wanted to go to after lunch. _I love you, too. Everything is going well, thank you for asking._

Jon: _Is he okay? With us, I mean?_

Sansa: _Welllll....I wouldn't say 'okay', but he's not running off to be with his uncles so I'm taking that as a good sign._

Jon: _I'm about to head into work....I can't convince you to meet me down the street or something later? I could park at the end and you could take Lady for a walk..._

Sansa: _LOL NO! Go out with your friends, have fun._

Jon: _*pout* Okay, okay. I'll text you later._

Sansa: _I've no doubt of that! Have fun at work._

She slipped her phone in her purse and headed out to meet Benjen. So far, everything was going well. As well as could be anyway. There was an underlying tension between them and Sansa kept having to remind herself not to force anything. Things had to unfold naturally. She couldn't force Benjen to be suddenly okay with everything. She just had to show him that she was there for him, and that would never change. 

He was perusing the science fiction aisle when she emerged. "Find something you like?" she asked. 

"Not yet. You gonna look around?"

"I am. Meet you in the front in a half hour?"

"Sure."

Resisting the urge to get gooey and say "I love you" a bazillion times, Sansa meandered off and remembered to breathe. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jon wasn't really into the whole fake ID bar scene, but when Ygritte and Val visited him at work and asked him if he wanted to join them at the bar around the corner from the coffee shop, he agreed. They had looked so proud of themselves handing him the fake ID they'd had made. And they'd brought a friend. A guy with red hair named Tormund. Jon liked him and his bawdy sense of humor immediately, and wondered if he was starting to collect redheads now. 

The place they went to was pretty lax in their ID checking anyway, and somehow Jon passed right on through without having his checked. He noted that there seemed to be quite a few people there that he'd put into question whether or not they were twenty-one. 

The place was loud and packed, and there were pool tables in the back and plenty of places for people to slip into a darkened booth and make out. He'd been nursing a beer and listening to Tormund talk about shagging some girl when he saw Joffrey near the bar. 

Straightening, Jon slid out of the booth they were all sitting in and said he'd be right back. Ygritte said something to him, but he ignored her as he made his way to the bar, keeping himself a good distance away. He just wanted to see... 

Joffrey made it to the bar and sat down, laughing, pulling a redhead onto his lap and nuzzling into her hair. Jon gripped the beer bottle in his hand. So, Joffrey was cheating on Margaery. And drinking. He thought about breaking his beer bottle on the bar and slitting Joffrey's throat with it. _You choked Sansa, you prick_ , he thought. _I haven't forgotten. And I won't ever. You will pay for what you did._

"Jon! What are you doing?" Val asked, coming up to him. "You want another beer?"

Jon shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. Just thought I saw someone I knew," he said and then made his way back to the booth. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

The weekend went by in a blink. Time spent with Benjen had been good. He'd asked more questions about her relationship with Jon, but they were few and far between as though he couldn't bear to know too much and had to process the answers. 

They had dinner with Robb (sans Jeyne), Tyrion, and Bronn and Saturday night, and Sansa swore she saw Jon pass by the window of the restaurant, but it had happened so fast that she chalked it up to missing him. And she did miss him. She didn't want her baby boy to have to go back to school, and she had enjoyed her time with him, but she did miss Jon something fierce. 

Jon made it clear he missed her, too. He sent her a texts all weekend long and on Sunday he sent her one that asked when Benjen was taking the bus back. She gave him the time Benjen would be leaving, and he said he'd give it a few to make sure there was no overlap, and then he'd be right over. 

And then, just as Benjen was leaving, and a little late too, and Sansa was walking with him outside, Joffrey pulled up. 

Sansa was tempted to run back in the house and grab her phone just in case she needed to call the police. He stormed out of his car, looking enraged, and Benjen stood in front of her, his body tense and at the ready.

"You come home and don't call me? You don't see me?" Joffrey said angrily, focusing on Benjen as he came storming up to them. 

Sansa moved around Benjen, shielding him. She could hear Lady barking her head off inside. "You're not supposed to be here," she told him firmly. "Leave."

"Restraining order is over," Joffrey sneered. "You can't keep my son from me anymore."

"I'm not keeping your son from you," Sansa said calmly. Inside, she was shaking like a leaf, and hated herself for it. 

"I came home to see Mom, not you," Benjen said angrily. Sansa could hear the undercurrent of fear in his voice as well. 

"You haven't returned any of my calls, Benjen," Joffrey said. "Why?" He looked at Sansa with narrowed eyes. "Is it because of your mother? Has she been feeding you a bunch of lies?"

"Benjen," Sansa said. "Why don't you let Lady out?"

"Go get that dog and I'll snap its neck," Joffrey hissed. 

Benjen didn't move. 

"He won't, Benjen," Sansa said. "Go get her."

Benjen still didn't move. Instead, he pushed his mother out of the way and then shoved his father. "You're nothing but a bully!" he shouted. "An abuser and an alcoholic!"

"Benjen, no!" Sansa exclaimed and attempted to pull him away from Joffrey. But she was too late. Joffrey backhanded his son and the slap was something Sansa would never get out of her head. 

Rage filled her and she lunged at Joffrey, pounding him with her fists. But she was no match for him and ended up on her ass when he shoved her down on the ground. 

When she looked up, ready to go to battle again, Jon was there. She blinked. Was she seeing things? 

No. She wasn't. Jon was there and he turned Joffrey around by his shirt and punched him dead in the face. 

Joffrey went down like a ton of bricks. 

"Don't you ever lay a hand on either of them again," Jon growled and then kicked Joffrey in the side. Joffrey cried out and curled up in a ball. "You son of a bitch, you choked her, and now you hit your son?" Another kick. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" 

"Jon! Stop!" Sansa shouted and scrambled to her feet. 

Jon was far past hearing her though. He went to kick him again, but Benjen and Sansa both barreled over and attempted to pull him away. 

"Jon! Stop!" Benjen yelled. 

"Jon, you have to stop," Sansa said in his ear, wrapping her arms around him from the side. "Listen to me, baby. Stop, please, I don't want you to get arrested."

His chest was heaving and Sansa could felt the tremor run through him. She could practically feel the rage he was exuding. 

"I want to kill him," Jon whispered. 

"No, I won't let you," Sansa said and reached up to run a hand through his hair. "Baby, come back to me..."

Jon looked down at her, his gray eyes full of worry and concern. "Are you okay?"

"I am," she said and then broke away to get to Benjen. "Sweetheart?"

Benjen had tears in his eyes and he was red-faced, trying like hell to keep in his tears. But as soon as Sansa had her arms around him, he broke down. 

"Let me see your face,” Sansa said gently and lifted Benjen’s head up. 

Jon watched her care for her son and felt his heart fill with such love it threatened to knock him over. He wanted to take her in his arms, love her, and take care of her. Twice now, Joffrey had hurt her. And now he'd hurt Benjen, too. 

"Let's go inside,” Jon said roughly. "Call the cops or Tyrion."

"Tyrion," she said. "We don't need you getting into trouble for beating him."

"He was protecting us, Mom," Benjen protested. 

"It doesn't matter, Benjen. Call Tyrion, Jon. Benjen, let's get some ice for your face."

When they all trooped into the house, Lady went nuts, barking and whining. Jon commented that she had a dog for a reason and Sansa told him that she had just been walking Benjen to the end of the driveway since he planned on walking to the bus station when Joffrey showed up. 

Sansa then had Benjen follow her into the kitchen to get a package of frozen peas for his face while Jon called Tyrion. She was so angry she was shaking. She had spent years trying to protect Benjen from this very thing. She sat down across from Benjen while he pressed the package of frozen peas to his cheek. He looked so lost. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” 

Sansa put her elbow on the table rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to cry in front of her son. She wanted to be strong for him. 

“Mom,” Benjen said softly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Now she rubbed her lips. “I wanted that to never happen to you,” she whispered. “And I wish I had the power to fix it.”

“I think he was just a ticking time bomb,” Benjen said softly. “And I think he was drunk. Could you smell it?”

“No,” Sansa said. “But I wasn’t really paying attention to anything outside of keeping you out of his way. He was in a rage, that much I could tell.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but man I was really happy to see Jon.”

Sansa burst out with a laugh while her tears fell, and it was a laugh of relief. Benjen laughed too and that’s how Jon found them when he came into the kitchen. He knelt down beside Sansa and rubbed a hand over her knee. “You guys okay?” he asked and nodded to Benjen. 

“I still hate you and all,” Benjen said, “But I’m glad you showed up. Did you guys make plans or something?”

“For later,” Sansa said with a frown and then looked at Jon in question. 

“I drove by like a creep,” Jon said with a shrug. “Sue me.”

Sansa rolled her eyes. “Instant Gratification Boy.”

“He’s gone, by the way,” Jon said. “I finished talking to Tyrion and when I looked out, he was gone.”

“Do I hear sirens?” Benjen asked. Sansa and Jon froze, listening, and Benjen started to laugh. “I’m kidding.”

“Ass,” Jon said with a laugh. 

“Pot meet kettle,” Benjen retorted, but his words held no bite. He frowned and put the peas down on the kitchen table. “I have a test tomorrow I could retake another time if you want me to stay tonight, Mom.”

“Do you want to stay?” Sansa asked. 

Benjen frowned. “Yeah, I…I kind of do. I mean…I just…yeah.”

“I can drive you back tomorrow?” Sansa asked. 

Benjen nodded and then looked at Jon. “You can’t stay.”

Jon sighed. “Yeah, Benjen, I know. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay for a little while, just at least until Tyrion leaves?”

Benjen frowned and then sighed as though he was making a giant sacrifice. “Fine. But I really don’t want to see you sucking face with my Mom.”

Jon’s jaw clenched, and Sansa could tell he wanted to say something, but he held back and for that she was thankful. “No sucking face.”

Benjen stood. “I left my tote bag outside,” he mumbled and headed for the living room. 

Once they heard the front door open and shut, Jon was turning her face to his and framing it in his hands. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Don’t ask me that,” she whispered, and pulled his hands from her face. 

“Why?” he asked, alarmed. 

“Because I’ll lose it. What about you? You hit him pretty hard.” She grabbed the peas and handed them to him. “How about this, Heavyweight?”

Jon leaned in and kissed her fervently. “My hand is fine,” he whispered. 

The door opened then, and Jon sighed and got up, grabbing the peas and pressing them to his hand anyway. Lady curled up at Sansa’s feet and there they remained until Tyrion arrived.


	28. Chapter 28

Tyrion wanted Sansa to get another restraining order against Joffrey. He also didn't seem to think Joffrey would do anything to Jon since he had in fact hit his son. Sure, Benjen was eighteen, but still. Plus, he'd already had a restraining order once, and Sansa had evidence of why on her phone. Cersei no doubt had that figured out. Plus, no matter how much she loved her son, she also loved her grandson and she would be beside herself knowing how Joffrey had hit him. 

This was what Tyrion thought anyway. 

Sansa was still worried. 

Jon was not. Jon seemed more concerned about Joffrey returning and that, per Benjen’s request, he would not be there. Sansa didn’t have the same worry, but all her worry was currently being used up by Benjen. His father hitting him had to mess with his head and she wanted to use their time together to do what she could to help him work through it. 

It wasn't easy. He didn't seem to really want to talk about it and spent most of the day moping and watching TV. Sansa did what ordering she had to do for her clients on her laptop and sat right down next to him for the day. She made him lunch, got him what he wanted for dinner (pizza), and then took him out for ice cream. 

He opened up when it was late and he was tired. What was it about being tired that loosened one's tongue? It was like being drunk almost. Benjen expressed how he had always wanted to be close to his Dad, but something had always kept him from getting too close and now he knew why. "I love him because he's my Dad," Benjen told her, "But I really hate him right now, Mom. I hate him for what he did to you, and I hate him for what he did to me."

"You have every right to feel that way," Sansa told him. "Like anything, something like this is going to take time to get past."

"What if I can't? I mean...after what he's done? How can I?"

"Benjen, I have spent your entire childhood and teenage years not wanting to taint you against your father. Whatever you decide regarding him, I back you up one-hundred percent."

"Right now I just want to be away from him."

"I think, perhaps, you might want to tell your Gramma Lannister that. She has the power to keep him contained."

Benjen snorted. "Does she, Mom? After today, do you really think that?"

And now Sansa was left to face the fact that no, perhaps Cersei didn't have as much power over Joffrey as she thought. Benjen had a point - Joffrey had come over of his own volition. And he'd lost it. Somewhere after finding out about her and Jon, Joffrey had become unhinged. 

"I think he hates the idea of you with Jon," Benjen said softly. "I'm not excusing his behavior, but he was never like this when you were dating that Ryan guy."

Sansa wondered why Jon was so different for Joffrey and could only come to the conclusion that it was because Jon was younger and that irked him more than any other guy she'd dated. Or perhaps if Benjen had told Joffrey how he'd found her and Jon, that was the trigger. And not because Benjen had seen it, but because that meant she was having sex. He had to know she'd had sex after him, too, but maybe he had been able to pretend otherwise and now he couldn't. Like most of society, what would an older woman such as herself be doing with a younger man if not having sex with him? 

But the fact was, regardless of the reasons why Joffrey has lost flipped his lid, he was a wild card. So, tomorrow, she'd get another restraining order and then figure out what to do from there. 

xxxxxxxx

Benjen seemed eager to get back to school the next day and Sansa drove him in this time after getting yet another restraining order. They chatted a bit about Joffrey some more, and Benjen had more or less come to the conclusion that he just didn't want to deal with his father right now. He was angry, he was hurt, and rightfully so, and he needed to think. 

Before Sansa left, Benjen hugged her and said, "I'm still not on board with you and Jon, but if he takes care of you and protects you and loves you, Mom..." He'd never quite finished that sentence, but Sansa had a feeling he didn't know how to. He didn't want to give his blessing, but he also wanted her happy. 

When she got home and pulled out her phone, she had a dozen messages from Jon asking how everything was, how Benjen was, if anything had happened. Sansa texted him before he freaked out and told him that everything was fine, that she'd just got back from taking Benjen to school. 

Jon: _I'm taking you out tonight, Miss Stark._

Sansa: _You want to finally have our night under the stars?_

Jon: _Maybe after our date._

Sansa: _Date?_

Jon: _Yes, you know where I pick you up at your door and we go out and have an expensive dinner and then I take you home?_

Sansa: _You want to go on a date?_

Jon: _Yes. Because I never have. We are together, aren't we? That means I take you out on dates._

Sansa: _I'm scared._

Jon: _I know you are, baby. But it's going to be okay. Trust me._

She did. And part of her must want to go on a real date with him because she wasn't going to argue it or try to stop it. Fucking hell, didn't she deserve to be pampered?

Sansa: _Dress code, please._

Jon: _Something fancy._

Sansa: _Will you be staying the night after?_

Jon: _Are you saying I'm going to get lucky on our first date? You little minx. *grin*_

Sansa: _LOL What time should I be ready?_

Jon: _Six. I can't wait. I love you, baby. Tell me you love me, too._

Sansa: _You know I do._

Jon: _Say it._

Sansa: _Bossy! I love you, Jon._

Jon: _I've got the stupidest grin on my face now, San. Thank you._

She blushed. Was that all it took? Not that she had any room to talk. She, too, had the stupidest grin on her face now. 

xxxxxxxxx

Lady chewed on a bone on the floor of Sansa's bedroom while Sansa went through her dressy clothes, which weren't many, to decide what to wear. She finally settled on an old standby: a black dress that clung to her curves, showed off some cleavage, and had a flowy skirt to it. It was dressy, sexy, and yet classy too. Jon would love it. Especially when she put on her heels and curled her hair and wore her makeup all smoky...

Had Jon ever seen her like that? 

She didn't think so. 

He'd seen her gussied up for a date, but not like this. 

Now she was even more excited. And equal parts nervous. This was it. This was happening. They were going out into the wide world as a couple. Okay, well, maybe it would help her fears not to globalize. They were going into Winterfell. 

Sansa hopped in the shower after her selection was made. She shaved, plucked, tweezed, and everything in between to ready herself for Jon. She dug out the sexy underwear, the black lace panties and bra, and she even painted her toenails and nails red. She left her hair free, flowing in waves down her back, and she applied red lipstick. 

When Jon knocked on the door, she was ready. Also, now she was nervous for a whole other reason. Or, perhaps, nervous wasn't the right word. She had that fluttery 'I'm about to see my love' feeling in her belly. Lady followed her, barking the whole way. 

When she opened the door, Lady let out one last bark and then stepped onto the front stoop to nuzzle at him. Jon reached down with a free hand and scratched Lady behind her ears absently while staring at Sansa with his mouth gaping open. Sansa was doing the same to him. He was dressed in a black suit and a black tie, and his shoes were dressy and shiny and black as well. His hair was pulled back at the sides and he just looked so goddamn _scrumptious._

"Holy fuck, Sansa," he said. 

"You like?" she asked, looking down at herself. 

"Fucking hell, I want you right now."

She bit her lip and eyed him coyly. “Same, Mr. Snow.” She stepped aside. “Come in, I want to get Lady in her crate before we go.”

He followed her in with Lady happily trotting in behind him, and kicked the door shut. She guided Lady into the crate by her collar and cooed at her while she put the latches on. “Pretty girl, we’re going to go out for a little while.” She smiled at Lady who was looking up at Jon like a, well, a lovesick puppy. “You love your Daddy, don’t you?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sansa made a face and looked up at a grinning Jon. “Daddy, huh?” he said. 

She rose to her feet. “Don’t get all excited.”

“Too late. I’m her Daddy. You said it. You know what that means?”

Sansa rolled her eyes. 

“That means,” he said, “that she’s my dog, too. She’s _our_ dog.”

“You gonna pay her vet bills?”

“We’ll split them,” he said with a grin. 

“We can talk about that later.”

He licked his lips and looked her over. "I want to touch you so bad right now," he rasped. "And yet I want to just stare at you, too, and not mess anything up. I want to fuck you against the wall right now until you're screaming for me, and I also want to wait until later."

"Later," she said and put her hands around each of his which were currently balled into fists at his sides as though trying to keep himself from grabbing her. 

She leaned in close and his nostrils flared. His pupils were nearly black and blown wide. She brushed her lips against his, a whisper of a kiss. He moaned. "Sansa..."

She giggled and then kissed him. He deepened it and grabbed her about the waist. 

"I am one lucky son-of-a-bitch," he whispered. “How did I get so fucking lucky to have you?”

She smiled and smoothed her hands over his chest up to his shoulders. “You must have been a very good boy.”

“I can be the best boy ever if you want,” he said huskily and leaned in to nip at her ear. 

She giggled and pulled away from him. “Later. I’m starving.”

He snorted. “So am I,” he said as he followed her out the door. 

Once in the car, Sansa was presented with two gifts with bows on them on the passenger seat. Jon grabbed them both and once she slid in, he squatted beside her on the driveway and handed her a DVD. 

When Sansa saw what it was she squealed. “When Harry Met Sally!”

He laughed softly. “You love it and yet you don’t own it. I wanted to rectify that.”

Sansa leaned over to him and kissed him sweetly. “Will you watch it with me?”

“Of course. And now, this one is not as exciting, but I think after your little Freudian slip it’s perfect.” He held up a bag of dog treats. 

Sansa giggled and took the bag. “Daddy is spoiling his little girl.”

“Both his girls,” Jon murmured and kissed her as he placed his hand over her belly. “Ready?”

She nodded and he stood and shut the door. She slipped her gifts in the glove compartment and sat back. She couldn’t stop smiling. Her face was even beginning to hurt from it, but she couldn’t help it because she needed this night with Jon. She needed fun, time away from home, and most of all, she needed Jon. 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn’t surprise Sansa one bit when Jon told her he’d scoped out the place he was taking her and specifically requested the high-backed booth that overlooked the garden and water fountain in the back. He’d also informed her that it wasn’t just the view he wanted, but he wanted to be able to sit next to her and not across from her. 

The restaurant was gorgeous and romantic. The tablecloths were white, the carpet, chairs and booths were black, the chandeliers were ornate and the lighting was dim. The tremendous window they faced afforded them some privacy, too. No doubt another selling point for Jon. 

She wanted to ask how he was able to afford this place when she was the prices on the menu, but knew that would only crush him so she didn’t mention it. He’d asked her out so he had a plan. 

And she learned some of his plan involved trying to feel her up under the table. She allowed him to caress her thigh, but wouldn’t let him go closer to anywhere indecent in the restaurant. His other plan was to tell her in detail what he wanted to do to her later, in detail, right in her ear. 

When he admitted he had to stop because he was hard, Sansa laughed and then whispered to him that she was wet. 

“What are the chances we could have a quickie in the bathroom?” he asked, looking pained and hopeful. 

“Slim to none,” Sansa told him. 

Sansa noted that while their waiter had stared at them a little long when he’d first come over, as though trying to piece together a puzzle, after that it was smooth sailing. No one so much as batted an eye at them and even if they did, she was too wrapped up in Jon to care. 

After dinner, Jon took her outside to look at the garden and water fountain close up. He pulled her behind some hedges and kissed her passionately, his hands going to her ass. He ground her against him, letting her feel exactly what she did to him. 

“Home?” she panted. 

“Not yet,” he said and practically dragged her to the car. 

He drove them through a rocky path in the woods on the outskirts of Winterfell and Sansa jokingly asked if he was going to murder her. He laughed, but wouldn’t tell her anything. 

Finally, he stopped at a clearing, which consisted of a round patch of grass with a tree in the middle of it and a dirt path all around it. It looked as though people had been by that spot before as there were burnt logs in the middle the clearing. Jon parked and grabbed a blanket in the back of the car. He grinned at her mischievously and got out. Sansa knew he wanted her to wait for him, and when he opened her door, he stopped her when she swung her legs out and took her shoes off. He dumped them on the floor of the car and held out his hand. 

He led her to a spot near the fire pit and spread the blanket out. He pointed up. “Look, San.”

She did and gasped. The stars. She could see them perfectly. The night sky was dotted with them. Jon then ran over to the car and came back with a portable radio. He kicked his shoes off and then set about finding a station. She smiled when she heard the unmistakable sound of Chicago wafting from the speakers. 

He straightened, pulled off his jacket and held it up. “Cold?”

She shook her head. Jon laid it on the blanket and then yanked his tie free and looked down at it for a second, smirked, and then tossed it on his jacket. He then gathered Sansa up in his arms and she wound her arms around his neck. 

“Are you having fun, sweet girl?” he asked, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. 

She nodded and smiled. “The best. I needed tonight, Jon.”

“I know you did,” he murmured and ran a hand down her back. “We both needed it I think.”

Sansa moved in closer and tucked her head under his chin. 

“I missed you while Benjen was visiting. Did you miss me?” he asked softly. 

“Yes,” she whispered. 

Silence fell and they swayed to the music for a while longer. Sansa shut her eyes, a smile on her face, and just enjoyed the moment with him. 

“Sansa?” he asked softly. 

“Hmmm?”

“I want to take you home, baby.”

She lifted her head to look at him and smiled. “I figured you might want to at some point.”

He leaned in and kissed her gently. “I have an idea…”

She arched a brow. “What’s that?”

“I want to use my tie on you. As a blindfold.”

Her heart quickened. “Really?”

He nodded and glided the pads of his fingers along the side of her face. “Do you trust me?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

He smiled back. “Then let’s go home.”


	29. Chapter 29

Once they'd returned home, and after making sure Lady was fed and had taken a trip outside, Jon pulled Sansa into the bedroom with him and began undressing her. She returned the favor and started to undress him as well. 

His hands were shaking, which didn’t go unnoticed by Sansa. She gripped them, her dress half hanging off of her and peered up at him. “What’s wrong, love?”

He clenched his jaw and pressed his forehead to hers. “It’s just you. I want you so much. I love you so much.”

“You have me, silly. I’m right here.”

He lifted his head and looked down at her. “Three days, Sansa.”

She laughed. “Technically two. There was that quickie in the morning before you left for class.”

“But then I didn’t see you all day after that.”

She ran her fingertips along his bottom lip. “Pouty. And guess what?"

"What?"

She smiled. "You can cum inside me again."

He leaned in and captured her lips in a searing kiss. He spun her around then and finished peeling her dress off. It pooled at her feet and he was faced with the sight of her lacy black panties and bra. A sound that could only be described as a whine escaped him. Every time he undressed her it was like unwrapping a gift. That gift at Christmas or your birthday that you hoped you would get, and then when you realized you were getting it and couldn’t wait to open it up and just have it. 

Being with Sansa was like his birthday and Christmas rolled into one and he couldn’t get enough of feasting on her body. He lived for her touch, the sounds she made that were like music to his ears, and how she felt wrapped around his cock…so slick and hot and tight. 

And she was his. All his. 

She turned, facing him, a smirk on her beautiful face. The vixen knew what the sight of her underwear would do to him. 

“Don’t move,” he said, his voice low and a bit shaky. He was holding on by a thread. 

She stood still, watching him as he finished undressing. He then went over to the bed where he’d tossed his tie when they got home and picked it up, sliding the silk material across his hand in a smooth glide. 

Sansa shivered as she watched him and his lips curved into a predatory smile. He felt like he was on the hunt. He felt exhilarated. Sansa trusted him. She trusted him to take her ass and she trusted him to blindfold her. 

He came over and stepped behind her. He pulled her hips back against his hard cock and moaned. Then he lifted the tie in front of her, showing her. “You ready for me, San?”

She nodded. 

“Say it so I know for sure.”

“I’m ready, Jon.”

“That’s my girl,” he said proudly and drew the tie around her eyes. He tied it tight enough not to slip, but not too tight so as to hurt. “Is that okay, baby? Does it hurt?”

“No,” she said and shook her head. 

“If you need to stop at any time, we’ll stop, okay?” he rumbled in her ear. 

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice shaking a bit. “What—what do you want to do to me?”

He laughed darkly as he placed his hands over her breasts and then tweaked her nipples with his fingers. “Sansa, you shouldn’t ask that of me. I want to do _everything_ to you.” He nipped at her ear and she shivered again. “I want you any way I can have you.”

“Can I have you any way that I want you?” she asked. 

He groaned, pushing his face into the curtain of her hair. “Yes,” he whispered. “You can do anything you want to me. I’m yours. I’m all yours.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” she murmured. 

"Please do.”

Cupping one breast, he slid the other down over her belly down to her cunt. He sought out her nub and teased it with the tip of his middle finger. She rocked in his arms, going up on her tip toes and then letting out a breath and easing back down on her feet. Jon grinned and nuzzled into the side of her face. “Oh my baby is so wet for me…”

She nodded and gripped his arm with her hands. 

“I don’t want you to cum just yet though,” he murmured and drew his hand away from her. 

She whimpered and Jon drew his now wet finger to his mouth and sucked it clean. He then turned her around and licked at her mouth. She opened hers, expecting a kiss, and Jon didn’t disappoint. He wouldn’t leave his woman wanting. Not too much anyway. 

“You know what I want you to do for me now, my sweet?” he purred as he slid his hands over her body. 

“What?” she gasped. 

“I want my cock in your mouth.”

She drew in a sharp breath and he knew she liked that idea. Well, half-liked it, half-wondered if she could do that blindfolded. He knew his innocent Sansa all too well. 

“Help me down?” she asked a bit nervously. 

He groaned. God fucking dammit he loved this woman.

He helped her down to her knees, ensuring she didn’t topple over. She placed her hands on his thighs and Jon felt dizzy. Then she slid her hand over to his cock and grasped it gingerly in her hand. Jon held his breath. And then she put her mouth on him and he thought he might topple over himself. “Fuck,” he breathed. “Your hot mouth… oh fuck, Sansa, I love your hot mouth on my cock…”

She slurped and sucked as though he was her favorite treat and Jon wanted to dig his fingers in her hair and feel it’s silkiness in his hands. Instead, he caressed her jaw with one hand, then her cheek. 

“What’s it like blindfolded?” he rasped. “Jerk my cock and tell me.”

She let him go with one last suck and Jon grunted. He wasn’t going to come yet. He wanted to come inside her. 

Sansa licked her hand and wrapped her hand around his cock as she looked up at him and started to jerk him off. He imagined those baby blues looking up at him and he moaned. “Different. Your taste is different like this…or maybe that’s just because I’m more focused on you in my mouth than how you’re doing up there.”

He laughed softly. “That’s my girl. Is it unpleasant?”

In answer, she put her mouth back on him. He place one hand on top of her head as she used the flat of her tongue on the underside of his cock. He moaned. “Sansa…”

When she cupped his balls, he realized he had to end this. “Stop,” he said hoarsely. “I can’t take anymore, Sansa. I want to cum inside you, not in your mouth.”

“But what if I want you to cum in mouth?” she asked with a pout when she took her mouth off of him. 

He bent down, feeling dizzy again, and drew her up. “Vixen,” he muttered and kissed her hard. He led her to the bed and helped her onto it. “Next time,” he told her. “Now stay put.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just stay put. You’ll see.”

She snored. “No, I won’t.”

He chuckled. “Okay, good point.”

He climbed off the bed and hurried to the kitchen where he went to the freezer and drew out an ice cube. With a grin, he hurried back to the bedroom. Sansa was propped up on her elbows, her ankles crossed, somehow looking like a proper lady despite the fact that she was buck ass naked and had a blindfold on. 

Yup. He was one lucky son-of-a-bitch. He got up on the bed and told her to spread her legs for him. He got in between them and dug one hand into the bed beside her hip and with the ice cube in his other hand ran it across her lips. She gasped and licked them and he groaned and kissed her quickly. 

“Ice cube?” she asked, laying back against the pillows. 

“Yes,” he murmured and then drew it down her neck. She arched into it and shivered. He leaned down and licked the path the ice cube had taken. She moaned and placed her hands on his shoulders, gripping him. 

Jon then circled one nipple. She gasped again and let out a whimper. “Too cold?”

“N-no. I like it.”

He smiled, pleased, and then leaned down and sucked her nipple in his mouth. She moaned again and carded her hands through his hair, getting rid of the hair tie completely. Jon did the same with the other nipple and she writhed on the bed. 

Watching her avidly, he drew the ice cube from between her breasts down to her stomach then her breath hitched when he neared her mound. He moved it up one side of her labia and then the other and then up her slit. 

“Oh!” she burst out and jumped a little. 

“Too cold?”

“No, just – a little maybe, but don’t stop, please…”

Not with that green light he wouldn’t. The ice cube was melting fast and his hand was a bit numb, but Jon didn’t care. He pressed it between her slit and then up to her clit. She bit her lip hard and shifted. He then moved it to her hole and pressed it partly inside her. 

She gasped and her hand shout out and gripped his wrist. He moved it back up to her clit and she dug her head back into the pillow. 

He circled her clit again and again and then tossed it away and got down on his stomach and put his mouth on her. She cried out, her hands gripping his curls as he licked and sucked and slurped on her. He fucked her with his tongue, he sucked on her clit, and then flicked his tongue against it while fucking her with two fingers. She came with a cry of his name, her hips lifting and seeking more. 

He licked and sucked until she pushed his head away and then he got up and knelt between her legs. He leaned over and kissed her. “Taste yourself,” he growled. She kissed him hungrily, licking at his lips and Jon moaned and pulled the blindfold up over her head. 

She blinked several times, adjusting to the light and then her baby blues met his gaze and Jon lost control. “Turn around, on your knees,” he demanded urgently. 

She licked her lips and got into position. The tie still in his hand, Jon leaned over her and pressed kisses along her back. He bit an ass cheek and she yelped. He groaned. “I want to tie your hands back,” he whispered. “Can I?”

A pause. Then, “Yes.”

His eyes fluttered shut and he had to take a minute to gather himself. She let him blindfold her. Now she was going to let him tie her hands back. This was the ultimate in trust. She was his. Wholly. Irrevocably. He sure as fuck hoped she knew that. 

He drew her up so that she was braced up on the bed, legs spread for balance. She drew her arms behind her and a lump formed in his throat at her total willingness. Her total submission to him. 

One day, he was going to have to return this gift with his own submission. He would do anything she wanted; anything at all. 

Jon made quick work of tying her wrists together, making sure she was comfortable about the shoulders and then eased her back down onto the bed. She pressed the side of her face on the bed and looked over at him, a flush on her cheeks. 

Jon kept his gaze on hers as he took himself in hand and pressed the head of his cock against her hole. She bit her lip and he pressed inside. He worked slowly, teasing her. She shut her eyes and moaned. 

“Look at me, Sansa,” he said, and stopped moving. 

She popped her eyes open. 

“What do you want, sweet?” he asked her. 

“For you to fuck me, Jon.”

He slammed inside her and moaned. “That’s.” Pull out. “My.” Hard thrust inside. “Girl.” Pull out. He then held himself there, teasing her hole. 

“Jon, please,” she begged. 

“Please what?”

“Fuck me, please, please, fuck me.”

He buried himself inside her with one hard thrust and he didn’t stop. He couldn’t now. She’d begged. On top of everything else she’d begged so sweetly. 

He pounded her hard and fast his eyes roaming over her. She trusted him. She loved him. She was his. That was all he could think as he fucked her. 

When she screamed and he felt her pulsing down on him, Jon couldn’t hold on. He slammed inside her to the hilt and roared as he came. He came so much. And so fucking hard. He felt dizzy again. Not wanting to hurt her, he made quick work of the tie, slipping it off of her and then collapsed to his side on the bed and drew her back against him. 

Sansa was boneless beside him, trembling from her orgasm, and Jon held her against him. 

“I love you,” he whispered. “My God, sweet girl, I love you.”

“I’m spent,” she mumbled and he rubbed his chin against her shoulder.

“I didn’t hurt you?” he asked worriedly. 

“No,” she said and turned to face him. She curled into him and he held her close. 

It was then that sound of Lady barking penetrated their bubble and they laughed as they dragged themselves out of bed and went to assure her that Mommy and Daddy were just fine.


	30. Chapter 30

Sansa's mouth gaped open while a teary-eyed Jeyne told her how she'd broken up with Robb. Sansa had not seen that coming at all. Though her mind had been otherwise occupied as of late. Worrying about Benjen, about the possibility of a pregnancy, and what Joffrey was going to do next, plus a run-in with a Cersei at the grocery store, her mind had been elsewhere. 

She wanted Benjen home and worried about Joffrey just showing up on campus to bother him. So far he hadn't, as Sansa checked in daily with him, but she still worried. 

Jon, in the meantime, worried over both of them. He asked daily if she'd talked to Benjen, and he kept tabs on her throughout the day. His fear was Joffrey showing up when he wasn't around. Sansa had had to convince him to not quit his job. "You can't babysit me, Jon," she told him. 

"I just don't like this feeling," he said. "This feeling that it's all going to come to a head, and soon."

“We can’t live our lives wondering what Joffrey may or may not do,” she told him. “I’ve got Lady and a bat, and I’ll keep my doors locked when I’m home alone. Even if he did do something, I can call the cops and I have neighbors.”

The next day he’d added to the list of things she had and brought her pepper spray courtesy of his friend Val. 

She pushed him to work, to see his Mom, and to see his friends. And it worked. A few times over the past couple weeks he’d gone out after work with his friends, and he spent time with his Mom before coming to see her in the evenings on the days he didn’t have to work. It was kind of nice being woken up with kisses when he’d slide into bed with her. Kisses always led to more of course, but she wasn’t complaining. 

On the nights he didn’t have to work, he’d do homework while she read or did work in her office, and then they’d curl up on the couch and watch reruns of Law & Order and Parks & Rec and then one of them would initiate a little something and they’d have a bit of a workout before bed. 

Running into Cersei had been pleasant. As in not at all. The other woman had laid into Sansa for what her "young lover" had done to Joffrey and what a "tart" she was for sleeping with a "little boy". Cersei had only backed down when Sansa reminded her that Joffrey, her precious son, had hit Benjen. Sansa wondered later if Cersei was completely blind to what her son was, or if she just lived in a perpetual state of denial, even when her grandson was involved. Or, perhaps, she hated that neither she nor Joffrey had the upper hand in this. Not that they ever did, but the certainly acted like it. But this time, Joffrey had done something unforgivable and Cersei damn well knew it. 

And now this with Robb and Jeyne. Sansa put the glass of wine she'd poured for Jeyne down on her coffee table and sank back into the sofa. When Jeyne asked to see her, but didn't want to actually go out, Sansa had thought that odd. Now she knew why. Jeyne was a mess. 

She was glad Jon had told her he had been invited to some "stupid party" after work and was going to at least make an appearance. She told him to make more than an appearance and to stay for a while. After giving her a kiss that almost made her want to beg him to stay, he'd left. Every so often she'd get a text from him. 

"What do you mean you broke up with him? Why?" Sansa asked. 

Jeyne wiped at her tears with the back of her hand and let out a shuddering sigh. "I just - I have loved Robb for so long. I've wanted to be with him for so long. But then once we were together it just...it didn't work like I thought it would. It just kind of fell apart."

"How? I mean...?"

"I think our on-again off-again relationship worked better for us. Maybe I just like the thrill of the chase? I don't know. It was just that when it was real, when we were both all in - I realized that there wasn't much there to make it lasting. I think when we would get together it was hot because somehow I knew it was temporary. It was like a game. But then we took the game away..."

Sansa sighed and furrowed her brow. "How's Robb?"

"He was upset. He started talking about how he felt like had to rethink his whole life..."

"Well you were always a major part of his life," Sansa said, and it came out a lot harsher than she'd wanted it to. She sighed. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. Robb couldn't commit before, I get it. That's not your fault. It was his. But it's just that when he did..."

Jeyne got up and grabbed the tissue box off the end table behind her and blew her nose. "I know," she said, slightly nasally now. "Trust me, I know. I feel like I have to rethink everything now, too. I got what I wanted and then it all fell apart."

"And so how did you leave things then? I mean, he's my brother and you're my best friend. How will this work?"

Jeyne's bottom lip quivered. "You mean you don't hate me?"

Sansa's eyes went wide and she jumped up to hug her friend. The two met in a soggy embrace. "No!" Sansa told her emphatically. "Of course I don't hate you. I mean, I'm not happy about this, but if it didn't work out then it didn't work out. You can't force these things and you can't predict how they'll turn out."

"Well, that's interesting coming from you."

Sansa reared back and looked at her friend with narrowed eyes. "What does that mean?"

Jeyne smirked. "I recall a certain someone thinking she knew exactly how she and a certain hot young buck were going to end."

Well, she wasn't wrong. Sansa tossed her a soft smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Have we ditched the doubts?"

"Not entirely, but they're getting better. Now I just worry about Joffrey and what he's going to do, and Benjen and how he's coping with all this." _And if I'm pregnant._

"What goes around comes around. I truly believe that."

Sansa shook her head and sat back down. "I don't know if I believe that anymore. I mean, how long do I have to wait for him to get his? It's been eighteen years now."

Jeyne sat back down, looking less upset than before. She patted Sansa's knee. "Everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to."

Sansa smiled. "Ever the optimist."

"Well, my life is in shambles. My romantic life at least. What else have I got?"

"Did you and Robb part amicably?"

Jeyne nodded. "We did. We've decided we'll be fantastic friends."

As Jeyne launched into the actual break-up of her and Robb, Sansa was able to at least for the moment put all her worries aside and focus on this moment with her friend. 

xxxxxxxxxx

Jeyne was gone, Jon hadn't texted in a while - two hours was a while for Jon lately - and Sansa was alone. She cleaned up Jeyne's empty wine glass and her half-filled glass, and went to her purse where she pulled out two pregnancy tests. She was taking no chances. 

Jon had asked her when she would be certain and she’d told him that she needed to take a test. He wanted to be there when she took it. But now that she was home alone and her fears were starting to creep in…

Fuck it. She was going to take one. She’d take the other one in the morning just to be sure. 

Her heart was pounding as she made her way to the bathroom. It would take, what, five minutes, maybe less, to ‘season’? It was going to be the longest five minutes of her life. 

She brought her phone with her just in case Jon texted, and did her business with the stick. She put it on the counter and then flushed, closed the lid, and waited. 

She shut her eyes and practiced deep breathing and trying to clear her mind. She listened to the water drip in the sink. The sound of the heat kicking on. Lady shuffling about in the kitchen. 

She jumped a mile when her phone dinged. She snatched her phone up and saw that it was Jon: _Hey baby, how you doing?_

She wondered how he’d react if she told him she felt like one of those cartoon characters when their skeleton jumped out of their bodies. He’d worry. So, she wrote: _I’m good! Just a bit tired. I think I might go to bed soon. Having fun?_

Jon: _Yeah, I guess. The party isn’t completely lame, so there’s that._

Sansa: _Go have fun. I’m fine here._ (She wasn’t. She was freaking out inside.)

Jon: _Do me a favor sweet girl?_

Sansa: _What’s that?_

Jon: _Don’t wear any panties to bed._

Sansa: _Omg. Go._

Jon: _LOL_

She put her phone down. At least she was smiling now. 

Okay, she needed to look. 

She picked it up.

And then shut her eyes and tried to breathe deeply again. 

She opened them and looked at the test. 

She was pregnant. 

Shaking, she picked up her phone and called Jeyne. 

“Didn’t I just leave you?” Jeyne asked with a laugh. 

Sansa could hear the jangle of keys in the background and a door opening. She must have just gotten home.

“There was something I didn’t tell you tonight,” Sansa said. 

“What’s that?”

Sansa started to cry; she couldn’t help it. 

“Sansa, what’s going on? What happened?”

“I’m pregnant. I just took a test. Jeyne, what the fuck am I going to do? I’m going to be forty in a few months!”

“Sansa, why the fuck didn’t you tell me about this when I was there!”

“I don’t know!” Sansa exclaimed hysterically. “I think I was hoping if I didn’t talk about it then it wouldn’t happen!”

“Well it’s happening!”

“I know!”

“Okay, calm down.”

“You started shouting first!”

Then Jeyne laughed and Sansa did too, but it was bordering on panic.

“Do you want me to come over?”

“No, no, don’t come back here,” Sansa said and rubbed her forehead. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Jeyne…what am I going to do?”

“First – how the fuck did this happen? You’re on the pill for fuck’s sake.”

Sansa told her about the missed pill. 

“Fuck,” Jeyne muttered. 

“My sentiments exactly.”

“How does Jon feel about all this?”

“Well, when I told him there was the possibility I could get pregnant, he was not at all worried.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Jeyne drawled. “Did he whip out a Trapper Keeper with the wedding he’s been planning for you both? I’m convinced it exists.”

Sansa laughed, the edge taken off a little with that comment. 

“You know he got a subscription to Bridal magazine by now. Is there one for grooms? I’ll bet he has that, too. He’s probably story-boarded the whole damn thing.”

“Stop,” Sansa laughed. 

“Nope. You’re laughing now.”

“I just…what am I going to do?”

“What do you want to do? Do you want it?”

“I’m terrified, Jeyne. What if I have this baby and Jon leaves me?”

“Did you not just hear the bit about the Wedding Trapper Keeper? Sansa, that boy isn’t going anywhere. He’s like…he’s like fucking Heathcliff.”

“ _Wuthering Heights_ Heathcliff?”

“Yeah. Remember when Heathcliff dug up Cathy’s body just to hold her? That’s Jon. There’s obsessed, and then there’s Jon. What happened to those doubts that were lessening?”

Sansa grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped at her eyes and nose. “I’m just remembering when I left Joffrey and raised Benjen on my own. It was hard. Very hard.”

“Jon is the complete opposite of Joffrey.”

“I know that, and thank God for it, but he has no idea how much work a baby is.”

“Who knows? He might remember.”

“Jeyne!” Sansa exclaimed with a burst of surprised laughter. 

Jeyne laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s too soon for jokes.”

“Do I wait to take the test tomorrow with him, or do I tell him when he gets home?”

“Will you be able to keep that secret until tomorrow? I mean, I can’t see you really pretending not to know.”

Sansa sighed and shook her head. “I can’t pretend.”

“So then you tell him when he gets home from the…ya know…”

“College party?” Sansa supplied pointedly. “Christ.”

“He loves you, and you love him. Remember that.”

“Benjen is gonna freak out,” Sansa murmured. 

“So it sounds like you’re going to keep it…”

Sansa sighed. “Maybe…?”

“Go lay down for a while. Remember to breathe. Just close your eyes and try to think about what it would be like to have a kid with Jon. A little you and a little him.”

Sansa heaved in a deep breath and slowly let it out through her mouth. “Okay.”

“Call me if you need me.”

“Will do. Thanks for talking me off the ledge.”

“You’ve done it for me how many times?”

Sansa smiled. “Call it even then?”

“Go get some rest.”

“Thanks.”

Taking her phone with her to the bedroom, Sansa crawled onto it and plopped onto her back. She closed her eyes and pictured a little girl that was a mix of her and Jon. Then a little boy. She imagined how adorable their child would be. How they would no doubt have Jon’s stubbornness and single-minded determination. 

Then she imagined having to get up three times a night and being stressed out as she had been with Benjen. And then Jon getting pissed about how much work a child was. 

And then Jon leaving her. 

Instead of calming down, Sansa started to cry again and she kept on crying until she’d absolutely exhausted herself and fell asleep. 

xxxxxxx

Sansa jerked awake. Someone was touching her. Her dreams, tumultuous with a mix of Jon leaving her and Joffrey coming after her, Sansa kicked her legs out. 

“Oof – Sansa, baby, it’s me.”

Sansa propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at Jon who was standing beside the bed. His hair was wet and he was in his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. Disoriented, she just stared at him. 

He tugged on her jeans and she realized they were halfway down her legs. She looked at him in question. “What is going on? What time is it?”

“It’s two. You fell asleep on the bed with your clothes on. I was helping you out of them.”

With her dream of Jon leaving her still in her mind, she started to cry. “Why are you home so late? Did you meet someone?”

He straightened and stared down at her. “What?”

She wiped at her eyes. “Just tell me if you did. Just don’t lie to me and stay with me because of the baby.”

He looked bewildered and worried and climbed onto the bed next to her. He reached out to touch her and she recoiled. He growled and dug his hand into her hair and drew her face to his. “Sansa, are you awake? Are you still sleeping? What’s going on?” He looked her over, frowning. “You’re not supposed to wake someone who’s sleepwalking,” he muttered. 

“I’m not sleeping!” she said and pushed at him. 

“What is going on with you? I know it’s late—”

“I’m pregnant.”


	31. Chapter 31

Jon's expression went from shock to complete wonder. He placed his hand on her stomach and stared down at it. "You're pregnant?"

She nodded, and flopped back, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"Why didn't you wait for me to take it?" he asked. 

She moved her hand away and looked at him. "Really? That's what you're going to focus on now?"

Jon moved so that he was closer, and urged her to her side by pulling on her hip. Sansa didn't move. "Talk to me, San."

"I don't want to talk," she said petulantly, looking up at the ceiling and not at him. 

"Yes, you do. Come on."

She looked at him. "Did you meet someone tonight?'

"Sansa, what the fuck? No."

"You showered. Why did you shower?"

"Because I smelled like a college party - smoke and beer and sweat."

She sat up and then clambered off the bed. She was tired and emotional and she didn't want to do this right now. Accusing him of cheating on her? Her fears had bubbled up to the surface and she sounded like a shrew in the process. 

"Where are you going?" Jon asked, sitting up. 

"I'm going to use the bathroom and I'm going to change. Then I'm going back to sleep."

She heard him getting off the bed and hurried to the bathroom. She locked it behind her. 

"Sansa, goddammit, talk to me," Jon said irritably through the door. "You're upset and I want to help."

"You've helped enough thank-you-very-much," she snapped. "Can I please just pee in peace?"

"Fine," he bit out. "But we're talking this out."

"Fine," she snapped again, aware that she sounded like a child. 

After using the toilet, washing her face, and brushing her teeth, she exited the bathroom and found Jon sitting on the bed waiting for her. 

"Why the fuck would you ask me if I met someone?" he demanded. 

"Because I'm paranoid? Because I'm afraid that it's a foregone conclusion?" She started to cry again. She hated being overtired and emotional. _Hated_ it. "Because you're gorgeous and perfect and who wouldn't want to snatch you up? Because I'm old and now I'm pregnant and you're going to want to leave me."

Jon sprang up off the bed and stormed over to her. He took her face in his hands and made her look at him. His expression was fierce, his eyes were blazing and his jaw clenched. "Sansa Stark, do you not ever think I would leave you, and especially not for anyone else. You are it for me. I would do anything for you. Anything you asked of me save for leaving you, and I'd do anything to keep you. I told you once before I'd kill for you. I'd die for you. You are the love of my life and I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her hard and deep and she moaned. He broke the kiss, leaving her panting. 

"Babies are hard work, Jon," she said, pulling his hands from her face. "Benjen would get up sometimes three times a night. I was always so fucking tired. They cry sometimes and you don't know why, they make messes, they get into scrapes, they get sick and you worry, they cost money and take up time....you're in _school_. This is too much for you to have to deal with. It's too much for me to do alone again."

He stepped back, eyeing her warily. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then no. That's not going to happen."

"What do you think I'm thinking?"

"Abortion." 

She sighed heavily. "Jon, just think for a minute--"

"I want a life with you, Sansa," he said fiercely, pointing down at the ground. "Isn't that what all this is supposed to be? Us building a life together?"

"It's too soon for us to have a kid!"

"No, actually it's not. If you're healthy enough to have a child with me, then I want it. I want it all with you, Sansa. Did you think I was just feeding you lip service when I told you that before?"

"We talked about adoption."

"We did. But now we don't have to unless we want more later. You're going to have our _baby_ , Sansa. _Ours_. Something you and I created together. It'll be part me and part you." He came over to her again, taking her face back in his hands, and looking about ready to cry. He kissed her sweetly. "You're not alone in this. I won't leave you to do it alone and I won't make you do it alone. I'm _here_ , Sansa."

"How can you possibly be ready to be a Dad?" she asked tearfully. 

"I'll learn as I go. And you'll teach me what I don't know. You're already such a fantastic mother. God, how could I not want a child with you?"

"What if it's the third night without sleep and you're tired and cranky and we haven't had sex in a month?"

"Sweet girl," he murmured, brushing a kiss across her lips. "We're going to have our ups and downs. We're going to argue. We're going to disagree. We already have. I know you think I'm just a stupid kid with hearts in my eyes--"

"You're not stupid. I know you're not stupid," she protested. 

"But I do have hearts in my eyes?" he asked with a knowing grin. 

"Yes," she murmured and averted her eyes. 

"Look at me, sweetheart."

She looked back at him and sighed. 

"It's true. I do have hearts in my eyes. Because I love you so fucking much I can't see straight. I'm not completely clueless about what is in store for us. You think my mother hesitated to let me know what a pain in the ass I was at times? But she did it alone, just like you did. You're not alone, Sansa, and I'm not going anywhere. It's not going to be sunshine and lollipops. I know that."

"You can't possibly until you've lived it."

"You're right. But that can be said for a lot of things. Are you going to hold that against me?"

"No," she said petulantly. 

"Just my age, right?"

She averted her eyes again. 

"Sansa."

She looked at him. 

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm scared, Jon," she said and pulled his hands away. "How is Benjen going to take it? Joffrey will just get worse--"

"Fuck Joffrey," Jon said angrily. 

"What if there are risks now that I'm older? I know my doctor said I was in great health, but what if something goes wrong?"

"Then we'll deal with it. We'll deal with all of it as it comes, just as we have with everything else. Come here." He drew her into his arms and she cried into his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry I accused you of cheating on me," she mumbled. 

"That one definitely took me by surprise."

"And I'm sorry I didn't wait for you to take the test."

"It's ok. Though I really would have preferred to be here with you, especially considering how you reacted to it."

"I have another test that I want to take it in the morning. That is the best time to take it."

"That's a plan then." He leaned back and looked at her. "What do you want to do, hmmm? Go to sleep?"

"Is that what you want to do?" 

He smiled. "I want to make love to you. Can I?"

It was odd for Sansa to partly want to and partly not want to. The part of her that didn't want to was due to the fact that she was tired and stressed, though admittedly she did feel a bit better after talking with him. The other part of her wanted to lose herself in Jon, and the way he made love to her was sure to release the tension in her and make her forget everything else. 

Now he was kissing her neck and pulling her against the evidence of his desire. "Let me make you feel good," he murmured. "Let me love you, Sansa."

It was already working. 

"Yes," she whispered. 

She started to pull her shirt up, but Jon stopped her. "Let me, love. I want to take care of you."

She melted. How could she not? Now she started to cry for a whole other reason. 

"Sansa?" He looked worried again.

"I just love you so much and you're so good to me and I don't want to lose you!" she wailed.

Jon took her in his arms and kissed her ardently, making her cling to him in utter surrender.

"I love you, too," he said huskily and lifted her. He carried her to the bed and set her down on the edge of it. He undid her jeans and she lay back to help him yank them off. Next were her panties. 

He nearly tore the rest of her clothes off of her in his haste and then his. She knew that look on his face. He had reached the point of desperation. When he climbed up on the bed with her, she expected hard and fast. 

But first he kissed her long and deep, then licked two fingers, and then skittered that hand down her body and between her legs. She moaned as he rubbed her clit and then sank those fingers inside her. Sansa moaned and lifted her hips seeking more. 

"My beautiful girl," he said softly as he continued to work her with his fingers, stopping to rub her clit. "I wish you knew just how much I love you. How I'd do anything for you..."

"Jon," she moaned, clutching at his shoulders, and moving her hips in time with his thrusting and teasing fingers.

"That's my girl. My sweet girl...fuck, you're so wet...your pussy is sucking me inside you. You want my cock, don't you? You want my hard cock inside..."

"I always want you inside me," she whispered. 

It wasn't often she was as vocal as he was in bed, and when she was it never failed to drive him wild. He growled and drew his fingers away. He shifted over her and she drew her legs up. Jon slid inside her with a groan. "My baby...my baby having my baby..."

"Jon..." she whimpered.

He buried his face in her neck as he thrust slowly in and out of her as though he had all the time in the world. "Talk to me, baby. Tell me what you feel. What you want..."

She gasped when he hit a particularly good spot inside her and she moaned. "I want you," she said softly. "I want you deep inside me like this...you're so deep inside me..."

"I always want to be inside you. I want to spend my days like this... so deep inside I don't know where I end and you begin." He lifted his head and gazed down at her, his eyes pinning her to there. He moved his arms to cage her in so that all she could see was him. She smelled his shampoo and soap, felt his hot breath on her face, and his body against hers, both slick with sweat and moving together. "You are everything to me, Sansa. My life. My entire world. I'll give you anything you want. Just tell me what it is. I'll give you the world..."

"I just want you," she gasped.

He started moving faster, harder. "You have me. All of me. My heart. My body. My soul. I'm yours. I'm all yours."

He was getting close, she could hear it in the urgency of his voice. He moved, pushing her back now, going deeper, the drag of his cock touching a spot inside that had her inching toward her climax.

When he lifted one leg against his shoulder and his fingers touched her clit, she felt it coming... coming...

"Come, Sansa," he demanded throatily, his eyes wild, his thrusts erratic. "Let me feel that cunt grip my cock...come on..."

She let go, crying out, her back arching as she came. 

"Sansa!" he shouted and held himself inside her as he came. He let go of her leg and collapsed against her, nuzzling at her neck. "My Sansa. Mine..."

He moved them so that they were on their sides and he was wrapped around her, one hand over her belly. Exhaustion swept over her and she gave into it, Jon's voice fading as she fell asleep.

xxxx

The sound of knocking and Lady barking her head off woke Sansa with a jolt. She detached herself from Jon's arms and scurried out of bed. She grabbed her robe, flung it on, and hurried to her bedroom door.

"San, what's going on?" Jon said hoarsely from the bed. 

"Someone's here," she said absently and hurried to the door.

She got to the window near the door and peered out. Tyrion. Frowning, she shooed Lady away and went to the door. 

"Lady, to me," she heard Jon say behind her. She opened the door and heard Jon putting Lady in the crate.

"Tyrion, what are you doing here?" she asked, "at..?"

"Eight."

She frowned. He looked solemn. "What is it?" 

If something was wrong with Benjen he would have called her, right?

Jon came up behind her, dressed in his t-shirt and pajama bottoms. "Tyrion," he said by way of greeting.

"Is it Benjen?" she asked, panic setting in.

"No, thank God. It's Joffrey."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He was found in an alley this morning, Sansa. His head bashed in. He's been killed."

Sansa felt her legs buckle under her, and she heard Jon shout her name just as he caught her from dropping to the floor.


	32. Chapter 32

When Sansa came to she found herself lying on the couch with Jon kneeling beside it. He had one hand on the side of her face caressing her cheek. She saw Tyrion out of the corner of her eye standing near Jon, frowning down at her. 

"I fainted?" she asked hoarsely, still feeling a little bit out of it. 

"You did," Tyrion said. 

Jon shot Tyrion a glare and then looked back down at her. "How do you feel, baby?"

Baby. Joffrey. 

Benjen. 

She sat up and looked at Tyrion. "Does Benjen know about Joffrey?"

Tyrion shook his head. "No. I thought you might want to tell him together."

Sansa nodded and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. "He's going to be devastated," she whispered. 

"We'll all be with him," Jon said. 

"You won't," Sansa said bluntly and looked at him. Jon looked stunned at first and then before he could protest, Sansa said, "I'm sorry, honey, but he won't want you there. You know that."

Jon clamped his mouth shut and his lips pursed. He nodded.

Sansa climbed off the couch, feeling a bit weak and as though she could sleep for a few thousand years. She needed food and a shower. "Can we stop and get food on the way, Tyrion?" Sansa asked. 

"Yes, of course, but I think you should grab something here first. You did just faint after all."

Sansa nodded as she started headed for the bedroom. "Sure, I can just grab a granola before we go. Let me shower."

"Sansa, sweetheart, can you please eat before you shower?" Jon asked and grabbed her hand before she got too far. "Please, love? I don’t want you to take a tumble in the shower.”

Sansa chewed on her bottom lip and looked past him to Tyrion. "What are the chances that Cersei or anyone else in your family will get to Benjen first?"

"I told Cersei I was going to tell Benjen. She is tied up with Margaery right now down at the police department."

Sansa nodded. Of course she was. Because Joffrey was murdered. 

_Murdered._

"How again?" she asked, her voice cracking. 

Tyrion shuffled his feet and sighed. "He was found in an alley near a club he sometimes went to. His head was bashed in. His wallet was left on the ground and they said it appeared as though his pockets had been rifled through as they were turned out."

"So, a robbery gone bad then?" Jon asked. 

Tyrion looked at him and then back at Sansa. "It appears that way. An investigation is under way."

Sansa felt tears coming again. "How is Cersei handling it? Margaery?"

Tyrion sighed, and cast his eyes to the floor. "About as well as you can imagine."

Sansa stepped forward. "How are you?" She felt disjointed, and she realized that she should have asked all this prior to now.

"I'm sad for a life wasted," Tyrion said, looking up at her. "But then, his life had been wasted a long time ago."

Sansa nodded. She got that. It was hard to mourn someone you hated. And there had never been much love between Joffrey and Tyrion. In fact, Joffrey had always been a little shit to his uncle...but then he had been a little shit to everyone. Or, some might say, a colossal asshole. 

And yet Joffrey had given her Benjen. So, despite how much she loathed him, he had given her, her beautiful boy. And, there was Benjen to consider. He was going to be utterly devastated and that was all she could think about right now. The fact that Joffrey and Benjen had not been on good terms was going to make it all worse and all Sansa wanted to do was protect her little boy from the pain he was going to feel, and the guilt that would follow. 

"Excuse me," she whispered and hurried off to the bathroom so she could lose it in peace.

Jon was on her heels and just before she made it to the bathroom, he grabbed her arm. She turned to face him and started to cry. He gathered her in his arms and she buried her face in his chest and let it all out. She cried for Benjen not for Joffrey. She cried for Cersei a little too, even if she was a heinous bitch. As a mother, she knew how she would feel if Benjen…God, she couldn’t even finish that thought.

“What can I do?” Jon asked softly as he ran his hand through her hair.

“I don’t know. Just be here for me? And for Benjen should he ask for you to be?”

“You know I will. I wish I could go with you. I know Tyrion will be with you, but it pains me knowing I won’t be there for you and Benjen.”

“You have class anyway.”

“I could miss class in order to be with you, San.”

“No, you can’t. It’s a bad habit to get into.” She lifted up and kissed him softly.

Jon kissed her desperately and then pushed his forehead into hers.

“I need to pee on a stick,” she murmured. “And then take a shower.”

“Can you show me the test after? I’d like to see it.”

She nodded. He was still happy about the pregnancy. Sansa was not. Instead she was thinking that this was yet another thing she would have to tell Benjen. But not today. Not for a while. Her poor boy first needed to get through this.

xxxxxx

The ride up to see Benjen was an anxiety-ridden one. How to tell Benjen that his father was dead. How to tell Benjen that his father was dead _and_ he had nothing to feel guilty for? She couldn't even think about the fact that the test this morning was positive too (a small part of her had hoped it wasn't), and how Jon had tried so hard to hide how pleased he was about that. 

Her thoughts at present were consumed with Benjen. She wished she could take his inevitable pain so that he didn't feel it. He was going to think that his father died hating him. Then there were the messy feelings Benjen already had toward his father, and all that had been unresolved between them. 

It all felt surreal, almost like a dream or a crime-drama story reminiscent of all the _Law & Order_ she and Jon had binge watched. Taking a step back, it was as though Joffrey's death was less a random robbery gone bad and more like the trajectory his life had been on. He'd dropped his basket so to speak. He'd gone nuts after learning about her and Jon. He'd choked her, painted (or gotten someone to paint) whore on her door, hit his son, apparently started drinking again or at the very least started drinking heavier. 

He'd been heading for rock bottom and ended up killed in the process. _Killed._ Didn't someone like Joffrey have a bullseye on their back in the movies, television, and books?

"What are you thinking?" Tyrion asked. "You've got that wrinkle between your brows."

"I'm thinking like a murder mystery," she said and shook her head with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

"How do you mean?"

"Just when you look at how things were going for Joffrey before this and how he ended up...it seems a little like..."

"He had it coming?"

"Well, I certainly wasn't going to say that."

"I think it's smart to think that way. When you connect the dots--"

"I have some of the dots, but not all of them. Was he drinking again?"

"He's always been drinking. But more so lately. Since, well, he found out about you and Jon. I could tell by his bloodshot eyes when he'd come into the office."

Sansa frowned. "Anything else?"

"Look at you, a regular Nancy Drew."

Sansa rolled his eyes. "I'm being silly. What happened was random and awful. Things like that happen all the time."

"But if you think about it, he certainly gave enough people reason to hate him. There are two people right here in this car. One at your house mooning over you, and probably one with Cersei right now playing the grieving widow while hiding this week's bruise."

Sansa's eyes went wide. "Margaery? Did he - were they having problems?"

"Nothing has been confirmed but I did spy with my little eye bruises on her arm. They looked a little like your neck..."

"Fingerprints," Sansa muttered. "Are you kidding me? I never thought Margaery would be the type to put up with that crap."

"Maybe she didn't. Or at least not for long."

"Tyrion. Are you saying you think Margaery killed Joffrey or had him killed?"

Tyrion sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm not. Not really. But when you think about all that had been going on and how many people he had angered, it does rather make you stop and think. He was on a tear, and ripping the carefully constructed life his mother and my father had guided him to have by the roots. He hit his son. He assualted you. He was a mess at work."

"Was he on drugs, too, do you think?"

"Oh, I've no doubt."

"So then it could have been a drug deal gone bad. Like you said, he gave people reason to hate him."

"I've no doubt Cersei will exhaust all resources to find out who did him in."

Sansa felt her stomach turn over. "God, Tyrion. That means she'll go after me. And Jon!" She rested her elbow on the door of the car and rubbed her forehead. 

"Remember, there is the fact that he was robbed of his cash, too. They are going to be looking for someone connected to him who may have had reason to rob him and kill him. As you know, he knew some pretty shady characters."

Yeah, shady was right. Some of the people Joffrey considered friends had rap sheets a mile long. Another reason Tyrion and Bronn watched over Benjen - to make sure those derelicts didn't get near him.

"And then," Tyrion continued, "There is anyone he might have been with that night."

"And then us," she said.

"You do realize you've nothing to worry about," Tyrion said. "I mean, unless you did it."

Sansa shot him a look. "I don't relish the idea of being interrogated, and I don't want to have Benjen to have to deal with that on top of everything else he's going to have to deal with."

"And on that note..." He turned the car into the campus of Benjen's school. "Here we are."

xxxxxxxxxx

Benjen was in class when Tyrion and Sansa made it to his dorm room. Sansa thought about sending him a text to tell him she was there, but she was afraid to worry him. His roommate let them in, and told them that he had a long break between classes today, and that he usually stopped by his room in between to veg for a while. Sansa hoped he adhered to that today. 

His roommate left, and Sansa and Tyrion waited. Tyrion put on Benjen's little TV propped up on a bureau across the room and flipped through the channels with the remote until he found some soap opera and settled on that. Sansa couldn't help but laugh, and she was thankful for that because she needed a break in the tension she could feel building inside of her. 

When Benjen arrived ten minutes later he let out a shout at the sight of them and then pointed at them. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"No surprise parties in the future then?" Tyrion said with a smile. 

Benjen laughed and then scratched the back of his neck and looked between them, his brow furrowing. "What are you guys doing here? Oh, God. What did Dad do now?"

Sansa and Tyrion exchanged a look and Sansa stepped forward. "Benjen, honey, could you sit down for me?"

Wrong thing to say. Benjen's entire gait changed. He was at attention, ramrod straight. His expression suspicious. He was on guard, that much was obvious. "What's going on? Just say it. You're both here, just say it."

Sansa didn't want to cry through this, but she could feel the tears coming. "Your father was found this morning in an alley. He'd been robbed and...attacked. He didn't survive, Benjen. He's gone."

"Gone?" Benjen said looking at her and yet it was like he was looking through her. 

"Dead, honey. He's dead."

Benjen shook his head. "No. No. You're lying. Why are you lying?"

"She's not lying, Benjen," Tyrion said calmly, stepping forward. 

Benjen's face crumpled into tears and he hunched over and shouted, "Nooooo! Noooooo!"

Sansa rushed over to him and he sank to the floor, sobbing. 

Sansa got on the floor on her knees before him and wrapped her arms around him as best she could while he buried his face in his hands. She wished yet again she could take his pain unto herself.


	33. Chapter 33

Jon left school immediately after his last class to go to his Mom’s. All day since he’d left Sansa’s his mind had been oscillated between ‘I’m going to be a Dad. Sansa is having my baby’ to worrying about Sansa and Benjen. He had sent her a text in between classes asking how she was doing, but he hadn’t heard back yet. Not that he expected to, not for quite a while anyway.

He felt rather helpless, which was not something he was accustomed to feeling. When there was a problem, he fixed it. When there was an obstacle, he overcame it. This wasn’t exactly a problem per se, and it wasn’t exactly an obstacle either. It was something to get through, but there wasn’t a fix-it-all answer.

He just really wanted there to be.

He knew Benjen didn't accept him yet, and now was not the time to impose himself on mother-son time, but...

But who did Sansa get to lean on while she was taking care of Benjen? And couldn't Benjen just give him a chance to be a support for him, too? They were family now after all, though Benjen didn't know that bit of it yet. Jon suspected he probably wouldn't for a while. Admittedly, Jon worried that in light of Joffrey's death, Sansa would get it in her head again about possibly getting an abortion. He also worried that with the stress she was under she could lose it. He just wanted to be around without upsetting Benjen, but he didn't know how to do that. And this waiting thing? It wasn't his strong suit. 

“Is that my son I see walking through the door?”

Jon smirked at his mother as he shut the front door behind him. “Hey, Mom.”

She frowned from where she was sitting on the couch, lounging in her pj’s. She did that after a night shift. “You all right?” she asked. “You look as though you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

He sighed, as he dropped his backpack to the floor and dug his hands into his pockets. “Joffrey, Sansa’s ex-husband, he’s dead.”

Lyanna’s jaw dropped open. “What?! How?!”

“He was killed. They think it was a robbery gone bad in some alley.”

“Oh my God,” Lyanna said and got up. “Is Sansa okay? Benjen?”

“She’s gone to see Benjen with his uncle Tyrion today. She’s pretty wrecked. Not because of Joffrey but because—”

“Because of Benjen,” Lyanna said softly. She sighed and headed into the kitchen. “Grab a box of pasta for me?”

Jon frowned as he followed her into the kitchen and grabbed a box of pasta from the cupboard. He placed it down on the kitchen counter and watched his mother root around in the cabinet. She took out a big pot for the pasta and a strainer.

“You feeding me?” he asked with a smile.

She shrugged. “In a way I guess I am.”

He furrowed his brow. “What?”

“I’m going to make Sansa and Benjen my mac and cheese. It’s what you do when something tragic happens to friends. You cook for them.”

“Is Sansa your friend now?” Jon asked hopefully.

“I wouldn’t say that, but my heart goes out to her and Benjen right now.”

Jon smiled affectionately at her. “I love you, Mom. Thank you.”

Lyanna waved him off as though it was no big deal as she placed the pot in the sink and started filling it with water.

Jon bit his lip and shuffled his feet. Lyanna turned to look at him and her eyes narrowed. “There’s more.”

Jon nodded.

“What is it?”

 _Like a band-aid_ , he thought, _right off_. “Sansa’s pregnant.”

Lyanna turned, shut the water off, and then just stood there, staring out of the window. Finally, she turned and faced him and Jon braced himself for impact. 

"Is she not on birth control?" she asked, her voice low. It was the voice she used that put Jon at attention that she meant business and if he so much as stepped one step out of line he was done for. 

"She is. She missed one night because she was...occupied. I mean, she even has an alarm set on her phone."

"And she was so occupied that she didn't hear it?!" She held up a hand. "You know what? No. Don't answer that." She put her hands on her hips and heaved yet another sigh. "Is she trapping you?"

Jon had to laugh at that, a disbelieving, slightly bitter laugh. "Sansa? Trapping me?" If his mother only knew the work he put in to make sure she stayed with him. "No, Mom. Sansa isn't trying to trap me. If anything, I'm looking for ways to trap her."

His mother narrowed her eyes. "Every time we talk about Sansa you tell me how it's always you that is going after her, that it's her that pulls back - as a mother of an eighteen-year-old boy who may very well not know any better, I have to wonder if you're not just feeding me a line so that I won't think poorly of her."

"Mom, no. She was... I mean, she was talking about the possibility of abortion."

Lyanna went wide-eyed. "Oh."

"I told her no."

"That's not your decision to make."

"The baby is half-mine," Jon said testily. "I did help make it."

"And it's her body to decide what she'll do with it. At her age--"

"Fucking hell, I am sick of that goddamn phrase. At her age. At my age. I don't fucking care about our ages."

"Hey, you might be eighteen, but don't get snippy with me, and watch your goddamn language."

Jon held up a hand of surrender and opted not to point out that she'd just swore, too. "I'm sorry."

"There are things to consider at her age, Jon. Like if the pregnancy would be a healthy one. There is a greater risk at her age that the child could have developmental issues."

Jon opted not to tell her that he and Sansa had already had that discussion. "All things we'll have to look into when she makes her first appointment." 

Lyanna threw up her hands. "This is not what I want for you! A father at eighteen with a woman twenty-one years older? Are you kidding me?"

"Mom," Jon said warningly. "Don't."

"Jon, in many ways you are still a kid. Have you really thought this through? I mean, you act like you're going to crawl out of your skin when you can't see Sansa for a night, what's it going to be like when she's devoting all her spare time to that baby?"

"'That baby', as I said, is a part of me and Sansa. Why would I want to compete with my own child for Sansa's affection? Part of what I love about her is because she is such a great mom."

"I think you're in for a rude awakening. You think it's going to be like one of those cheesy sitcoms you'd watch growing up. It's not going to be like that, Jon. It's going to be messy. You're going to be tired all the time and worried all the time. And how is Benjen going to take this? He hasn't even accepted that you're with his mother yet!"

It wasn't often that Jon got upset with his mother, but he was now. "Mom, I love you, but I'm going to step away from this conversation right now."

Lyanna pursed her lips together and then nodded. "Yes. Perhaps that would be best."

Jon nodded once and headed off to his bedroom. His bedroom that had pretty much been depleted of his personal belongings save for a few things. When he was home, he grabbed a few more things to take over to Sansa's. He wouldn't say he was essentially slowly moving in with Sansa...but that was pretty much what was happening. 

And he may or may not have planned that.

He pulled his phone out from his pocket and sat down on the bed. No text from Sansa yet, but he sent her another one anyway, wanting her to know that he was thinking of her and Benjen and that even if he couldn’t be there, he was supporting them both. 

xxxxxxx

Sansa’s phone dinged as she sat in the backseat of Tyrion’s car with Benjen. Her son was currently asleep, unknowingly using her shoulder as a pillow. She plucked her phone from her purse, careful not to wake Benjen and smiled faintly when she saw that it was Jon. 

Jon: _Hey, baby. Just thinking of you and Benjen and hoping you’re both doing okay._

Sansa: _I’m headed home with him now. He’s exhausted himself and is currently asleep._

Jon: _I’m so sorry, San. I know it’s probably a stupid question to ask how he took it?_

Sansa’s eyes welled up in tears at the memory of her afternoon with Benjen. 

Sansa: _It was awful, Jon. I’ve never seen him lose it like that._

Jon: _Is he feeling guilty?_

Sansa: _Yes. He said he knew Joffrey did terrible things, but he was still his Dad and he loved him. He broke down when he thought that Joffrey died thinking he hated him. I kept telling him that wasn’t true._

Jon: _Can I ask you a question?_

Sansa: _Sure._

Jon: _Do you think Joffrey was ever capable of love? I mean, do you think he loved Benjen the way a father is supposed to love his son, or do you think Joffrey just saw him as a possession, kind of the same way he saw you?_

Sansa: _Unfortunately, I think Joffrey only saw him as a possession. And, sometimes, a burden. Based on what Benjen has told me and from what I’ve been able to observe over the years, Joffrey never really connected with Benjen. It was superficial, and oftentimes he did things with Benjen just to show me up and make me look bad. Like buying him the expensive bike he wanted that I said no to. Or the Playstation, and all the toys he wanted when he was a kid…_

Jon: _You grounded him then. Benjen is not selfish or spoiled, not like he could have been with getting all those things. And he obviously loved you because he never turned on you._

Sansa: _No, he never did. And it’s a wonder he didn’t._

Jon: _He’s always known how much you love him and how you took care of him._

Sansa: _Thank you._

Jon: _You know I’m here if you need me, San. I’m worried about you._

Sansa: _I’m okay. This is hard, but I’ll be okay._

Jon: _You have me to lean on. You know that, right?_

Sansa: _I do. And Jon, just so you’re prepared, don’t be surprised if the cops come a-knockin’. I’m fully expecting Cersei to use even this as an opportunity to get back at me. I’m concerned because she has to know you beat him up. She’ll not let that go._

Jon: _*sigh* So, I’ll be questioned. I sorta expected it considering. I’m not worried. Obviously, I didn’t do it, and I have alibis._

Sansa: _If they do come for you, will you please let me know?_

Jon: _Same, if they come for you, too._

Sansa: _I promise. Okay, well, we’re just about home. I love you._

Jon: _I love you too, baby. Text me when you can, okay?_

Sansa: _I will._


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote the Tyrion/Sansa scene in the car from chapter 32. Just to make things a little clearer about Joffrey and the investigation and what they are facing.

Benjen: _I'm staying over my uncle's for a few days._

That was the text that came through to Jon on a Wednesday night, four days since Joffrey had turned up dead. 

The text was his green light to see Sansa. It couldn't have come at a better time, too. He was starting to grow rather impatient. He had talked to Sansa every day in some capacity since she'd gone to get Benjen. They spoke either by text or when Sansa got a minute to actually call him. She sounded tired and sad every time they spoke and Jon would find himself feeling frustrated in his inability to do anything but wait until he was actually able to see her. 

He had to hand it to himself. He'd done well in not pushing. Though he wanted to. He really _really_ wanted to. 

He'd learned through Sansa (who learned through Tyrion) what was happening with the investigation. Evidence was being gathered and people at the club Joffrey frequented were being questioned. Footage from the club was being looked at, and people were being identified that he interacted with, including, Sansa told him, a mistress. Possibly one of many. Then there were the "shady characters" Joffrey kept as friends. One of them was possibly going to face drug charges. 

Tyrion warned her that Cersei was on the rampage and to get her lawyer ready, and Sansa encouraged him to get one as well.

Lyanna had been thrilled to hear that - as in, not at all. His mother had been in a mood since he'd dropped the bomb that Sansa was pregnant, and the two had spoken here and there, but had mostly avoided each other. Lyanna did say to him that she knew by the state of his room he was slowly moving in with Sansa, and was Sansa aware of it?

Jon pretended not to hear her. 

He didn't like arguing with his mother. In fact, it was not something they typically did - not for long periods of time anyway, but this one was obviously difficult for Lyanna to wrap her head around and Jon wasn't up to hearing the “You're too Young to be a Father” medley. It was bad enough when she exploded at him for beating Joffrey up. 

"I am sorry for what Benjen had to experience," she'd yelled at him, "and I commend Sansa for trying to protect her son, but Jesus Christ, Jon. You should not be dealing with any of this!"

He let her go off. He counted half a dozen "You Shouldn't Be Dealing with This" and almost a dozen "You are Only Eighteen". She was also fond of asking if this was really all worth it. The answer was always yes. Sansa was worth anything and everything. He never answered her verbally though. He didn't want to be accused yet again of having his head in the clouds. 

He knew his Mom was worried. Not only about him becoming a father, but about the investigation. She helped him get an attorney - hers - and the nice middle-aged man instructed him to get his alibis in order and to call him immediately should the cops come for him. 

So, Jon made sure to talk to Ygritte and Val. 

“I remember you at the beginning of the party…” Ygritte said over lunch at the commuter café. She narrowed her eyes and pointed her plastic fork at him. “And I remember saying goodbye to you…”

Jon rolled his eyes. “I was with you the whole time outside when you and everyone else were standing around the fire pit.”

“We were pretty wasted,” Val murmured. She squinted. “I think I sorta remember you sitting in the corner.”

Ygritte snorted. “Texting his girlfriend no doubt.”

“So you guys are okay if I need you to back me up?” he asked.

Val smiled. “Of course.”

One less thing to think about. One more thing to ease his mother’s and Sansa’s minds. 

And now he was about to head back to Sansa’s, a tote stuffed with some clean clothes. He made his way out to the kitchen where his mother was working on a crossword puzzle. She looked up at him and then down at the tote in his hand. “Sansa call?”

“Benjen texted. He’s going to be at Tyrion’s for a few days.”

“Funeral?”

Jon frowned. “I didn’t ask. I should have asked.”

“Yes, you should have.”

“He won’t want me there regardless.”

“No, but it would be nice to send your condolences in some way anyway. You want him to accept you? That might help.”

Jon sighed and dropped his tote bag to the floor and pulled out a chair across from his mom. He pulled out his phone and sent Benjen a text: _How are you?_

He looked up at his Mom while waited. “I still need you, Mom.”

She snorted. “You’re going to need me a lot I think in the next nine months.”

His phone dinged. 

Benjen: _I’ve been a hell of a lot better._

Jon: _I really am sorry about your Dad, Benjen. Is there anything I can do?_

Benjen: _Just take care of my Mom. I’m afraid I sorta ran her ragged._

Jon: _Thank you, Benjen._

Benjen: _And close the damn bedroom door!_

Jon: _LOL. We will._

Jon looked up and found Lyanna watching him with a small smile. “I was right then?”

He nodded. “You were. Thank you, Mom.”

She sighed and sat back, putting her pencil down on the table. “Jon…if any part of you thinks that you should not have this baby with Sansa, then I think you should tell her. If she is considering an abortion and it’s you holding her back then she needs to know if you have doubts.”

“I don’t have doubts,” he said softly, but no less firmly. 

She looked almost pained. “You remind me of your father when it comes to Sansa. The single-mindedness. The surety.”

“Except I don’t plan on leaving her. Ever.”

“It could still happen, but even if it does I won’t let you abandon that child.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t.”

She sat forward and picked up her pencil. “Go see Sansa.”

Jon’s lips quirked into a small smile and he got up and went over to kiss his mother on top of her head. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will. And if the cops come for you…”

“I’ll call you right away. I promise.”

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. She looked worried, but she wasn’t going to stop him from leaving. She knew how futile that would be. 

xxxxxxxxxx

It did occur to Jon on his way to Sansa’s that Benjen had never said whether or not Sansa had asked her son to contact him. He hoped to hell she had, but found it odd that she hadn’t texted him herself. Though he was partially glad she hadn’t. It gave him an opportunity to at least make some kind of connection to Benjen. 

When he pulled into Sansa’s driveway he sent her a text, telling her he was outside and asking if he could he come in. 

He frowned as he waited, noting how dark the house was. It was pretty early still, only six, but she could be napping. He got out of the car, leaned over to grab his tote on the passenger side seat, and then shut the door and made his way to Sansa’s door. He used his key, which used to be the spare key, to get inside. Sansa had given it to him with the stipulation that he use it if he came over late or if they were to meet and she wasn’t home yet. It sorta worked out that way, more often than not he just ended up waiting for her regardless of whether they had definitive plans. 

He flicked the light on in the living room, dropped his tote on the couch, toed off his Chucks, and made his way down to Sansa’s bedroom. 

He door was just slightly ajar and he could just make her out as a lump under the covers. His heart ached. She was indeed run ragged. 

He stepped inside and whispered her name as he approached the bed. The lump moved. He said her name again as he climbed under the covers next to her. The only light in the room was the glow from the nightlight she had next to her bathroom door. 

The lump moved again and then the covers were moved away. She blinked into the darkness at him. “Jon.”

“Hey, baby. How’s my girl?” he murmured as he ran a hand through her hair, moving it away from her face. 

“How did you know I was alone?”

“Benjen texted me. So you didn’t put him up to it?”

“No, but I was going to call you. I just wanted to take a quick nap first.”

“I can hold you, sweetheart, if you want to sleep some more.”

Instead, she burst into tears and burrowed into him. Jon wrapped her up in his arms and held her tight against him, wishing he could take her pain away. “Talk to me,” he murmured against her forehead.

She told him about how Benjen had gone mute the first two days and didn’t move from his bed. She told him about how Cersei called to check on him (on his phone) and made him sob by telling him that his father loved him and was really a good man underneath all his faults. She’d also alluded to how Sansa wasn’t as innocent as she made herself out to be. That had made Benjen angry, but he hadn’t wanted to hang up on his grandmother. 

The past two days, there had been a bit of a breakthrough and Benjen had alternated between being angry, then feeling guilty, and then crying. The funeral, Sansa told him, was in two days and he was going to spend some time with Joffrey’s side of the family. 

“I just wanted to be there for him as much as I could, ya know?” she said into his chest. 

“I know, love,” he said softly as he stroked her back. “I told you before – you’re an amazing mom.”

“And I keep waiting for when we’re going to be questioned. I know it’s coming. If they don’t find a lead anywhere else, I know it’s just a matter of time.”

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said. “I’m not worried. I have an attorney and I have my alibi’s all lined up.”

“Ygritte and Val?”

He nodded. “I was with them mainly, but I know a few others I could get if I had to.”

“They say the murder happened at approximately eleven-thirty. I had just gotten off the phone with Jeyne at eleven-ish. No way could I have made it downtown in time for that.”

Jon laughed softly. “Was there any question?”

“There will be,” she said grimly. 

“They can’t convict us, Sansa.”

“Don’t be naïve,” she sighed and pushed away from him to sit up in bed. 

He’d been called that a few times over the past four days and he was really tired of it, but he opted not to call attention to it. He knew she didn’t mean it in the same way as his mother did…though there were times when she did. 

She reached over and flicked the lamp on, on her nightstand and then looked over at him. Her smile was faint, but it was there. “I am happy to see you.”

Jon moved so that he was sitting up next to her and he drew her face to his and whispered, “Oh, Sansa, you have no idea.” He kissed her with increasing passion and had just slid his hand under her top when she broke the kiss and looked at him with something of a glint in her eye behind all the sadness. 

“Jon? Will you do something for me?” she asked softly, ducking her head and tucking some hair behind her ears. 

“Sansa, don’t you know by now I would do anything for you?” he asked with a mix of desperation and disbelief. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head up. “What is it, baby? What do you need?”

She licked her lips and then bit down on her bottom lip, and Jon groaned. “I want something different tonight,” she said. “I –I need…control.”

 _God, yes,_ he thought. “You want to take control of me?” 

She nodded, her blue eyes meeting his gray ones. 

“Do anything you want to me, Sansa,” he said huskily. “I’m yours, baby.”

“Will you get undressed and then undress me?”

“Fuck yes. But don’t ask. Take the control you want and tell me what you want me to do.”

Slowly, a grin started to form. “In that case,” she said, “Strip.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Jonsa plays checkers.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The striptease is all for you, Jenna!

Jon climbed out of the bed, his dick hardening, and stared down at Sansa heatedly as he began to lift his shirt. 

"Wait!" 

He stopped. "What?"

She grinned. "Put on a show for me."

"I can't dance."

"You can move those hips though," she purred. She bit her lip again, a pretty little blush on her cheeks and a bit of a shyness about her that drove him fucking mad. 

No matter what they did in the bedroom to one another, Sansa still managed to get shy about certain things. Apparently even when she was the one in control and asking him to put on a little strip tease. The dichotomy of the vixen in bed and the coy lady she could be out of it turned him on. But then, everything about Sansa turned him on. 

"Let me put some music on," she said and reached over and grabbed her phone on the nightstand. Soon, a song Jon was vaguely familiar with came on. "It's 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' by Def Leopard," Sansa told him. 

He started to move his hips from side to side, feeling like a fool, but enjoying the devilish grin on Sansa's face. He lifted his shirt slowly and she whistled, causing him to laugh. When his shirt was off, he flung it at her and she dissolved into giggles and grabbed it, holding it against herself like a prized possession. The sound of her laughter was like music to his ears. She needed this, and so did he.

Next, he slowly undid the snap of his jeans, then sloooowly pulled down his zipper. He turned and pulled down his jeans a little at a time until they were just under his ass, still encased with his black boxers. He bent over and she squealed delightedly. Then she touched his ass, squeezing his cheeks with her hands. He turned then and found her kneeling on the bed, flushed. She sat back on her heels and Jon finished taking his jeans off with as much flourish as possible. He lifted his arms and interlaced his fingers behind his head and moved his hips as he did a slow spin. Sansa clapped and then hooted and Jon laughed again. 

She licked her lips when he put his hands at the elastic of his boxers and then she held up a hand. "Let me," she said and climbed off the bed. Jon watched her approach him and he felt a tremor of anticipation go through him. 

Sansa knelt at his feet and Jon thought he just might go stark raving mad. He watched avidly as she put her hands on the elastic and pulled his boxers down, careful of his straining erection. When his boxers were at his feet, he stepped out of them and Sansa tossed them aside.

Then she slid her hands up his thighs and took him in her mouth. His hands went to her hair and she batted them away. She pulled her mouth away and stroked his cock with her hand as she looked up at him. "No touching until I say."

"Sansa," he whined and she laughed.

Then with one last long sick on his cock, she rose. 

"May I undress you now?" he asked hoarsely. 

She tilted her head to the side, a considering look on her face. "No, I've changed my mind. I'll strip now and you'll watch. And remember, no touching."

Fuuuuuck. So she was going to drive him right around the bend, was she? His palms itched with the desire to do the very thing she was depriving him of. But if this was what she wanted then she would have it.

She started the music again, this time a different song. "'Talk Dirty to Me' by Poison," she said. She started to dance, moving those hips and shaking those tits for him and Jon gasped. "Permission to touch myself?" he asked desperately. She nodded, and he drew his hand down and started to stroke himself. 

She lifted her hands up in the air, clasping them over her head and she did a slow turn, her hips gyrating his circles to the music. 

He was about to tell her to take her clothes off when she slid her hands down her body and lifted the hem of her tank top. She whipped it gracefully over her head and tossed it at him. He grabbed it with one hand and fisted it. She wasn't wearing a bra and his mouth went dry as he watched her cup her breasts and do another turn.

Then she slid her hands to her black yoga pants and she turned as she shimmied out of them, bending at the waist. Her innocent cotton white panties were the only things left on her after she'd discarded her pants and turned. Her gaze drifted over his body at a leisurely pace as she slid her hand down her panties and started playing with herself.

"Fuck, Sansa, please baby, please let me watch?" he begged, taking a step toward her and dropping her tank top. He started to reach for her and she looked pointedly at his hand. He dropped it. 

She smiled and withdrew her hand and slid her panties down. She stepped out of them, picked them up, and tossed them at him. He caught them and sniffed them. Her eyes went wide and he smirked. She slid her hand back down to her pussy and started playing with herself again. 

His dick was leaking and he was beginning to feel lightheaded. "Sansa," he growled. His hand was moving faster, and he did not want to cum yet. He forced himself to stop. 

She looked at him, slipping her hand out of her panties. She was the picture of innocence, her blue eyes widening. "Yes, baby?"

Now with the pet names. She rarely called him by one, and he loved it when she did. 

She came over to him, spreading her hands over his pecs and then brushing her thumbs against his nipples. The wetness from her pussy cooled his skin and he moaned, thinking of her marking him with her essence. With his hands balled into fists at his sides, he leaned down and attempted to kiss her. She giggled at first, and then gave in. 

"I love it when you give me pet names," he breathed. 

"Do you?" she murmured, brushing kisses along his neck and making him moan as her hand went back down to play with herself. 

He groaned. "I do."

"Then I'll do it more often," she whispered and then used her free hand to fondle his cock. He grunted, pushing himself in her hand. "You're dripping for me too, baby."

He nodded, his eyes squeezed shut. Then he popped them open and stared hard at her. "Are you?"

She drew her hand up to his mouth and said with a beaming smile. "I am."

He eagerly captured her fingers with his mouth and sucked and licked every delicious drop from them. 

"Do you want to eat my pussy, Jon?" she asked, drawing her hand away. 

"God yes," he breathed, "Please."

With a siren's smile, she perched up on the edge of the bed and spread her legs wide. She looked up at him and simply said, "Kneel."

He did. Without question. He crawled to her and stuck his face between her legs. Her hands went to his hair and he growled when she pulled on his curls just enough to sting. 

"My Jon is such a good boy," she purred. "Especially when he's naughty..."

Jon growled again, his hands in fists. He just wanted to touch her! He licked at her clit with the flat of his tongue and then sucked it into his mouth. 

"On his knees for me like a good boy," Sansa mumbled. “Such a good boy…”

Jon could tell she was close. She was babbling. 

And when she came, she came with a cry, digging his face in her cunt while he licked at her wetness. He gently bit down on the inside of each thigh and sat back on his heels. He was panting and feeling rather desperate to be inside her and to fucking _touch_ her. She was panting, too. And flushed, and wet, and gorgeous and God, he _needed_ her. "Sansa," he said, "Please, I need to touch you. I need inside you."

She slid off the bed and headed for her closet. Jon hung his head, trying to not give in and just grab her. 

When she came back, it was with two scarves in her hands. "Get on the bed, on your back."

Jon scrambled to his feet and then onto the bed and lay down. "I want to touch you, Sansa."

"I know what you want, but I'm in control and I want to drive you crazy."

His laugh was a low rumble of disbelief. "You want to drive me crazy? Have you been paying attention to me at all? You drive me fucking crazy all the time. You breathe and I want you. You look at me and I want you. I want you all the fucking time."

She tied one wrist to the bedpost. 

"I love you so much I can't see straight," he mumbled as she made her way around to the other side. He didn’t take his eyes off her. "Everything I do is for you, Sansa. To make you happy and keep you safe."

Sansa finished tying the other wrist up and climbed up onto the bed and mounted him. She leaned over him, gliding her wet pussy along his aching cock. He moaned and lifted his head. "Kiss me, goddammit," he begged. "Kiss me, Sansa, please!"

She took pity and kissed him deeply, passionately. "I want you all the time too," she murmured as she lifted up and ran her hands along his chest slowly. 

"Tell me," he moaned, tugging at the scarves.

"Look at you," she said, trailing her fingers around each defined ab. "How gorgeous you are. I think - how did I end up with this beautiful man?"

Then she leaned over him and began trailing kisses along his chest. She licked at his nipples, and traced her tongue around the dips and curves of his defined muscles. Jon moaned, quivering under her kisses and caresses and tugged again at his restraints. “Sansa, please, baby, please, I need inside you now.”

She lifted her head and peered up at him. “You sound quite desperate, Jon.”

He nodded adamantly. “I am. Sansa, please.”

The corner of her mouth lifted into a grin as she rose over him. He watched her, panting, as she placed his cock at her opening and slowly impaled herself. His eyes rolled up. “Fuck!”

“That’s the idea,” she said and started to roll her hips, inching him inside her. 

And then she started to ride him. 

Jon wanted his hands on her breasts. He wanted her against him so that he could hold her hips and fuck up into her. She leaned over him, planting her hands on either side of his head as she rode him. “Do you want to touch me, Jon?” she purred. 

“Fuck, yes, I want to touch you,” he breathed. “I want to feel your skin under my hands, Sansa. I want to hold you.”

She kissed him and he licked his tongue inside her mouth, greedy for more. 

Then she stopped moving and he let out a shout of protest. She smirked down at him as she climbed off him. 

“Sansa!” he cried out. “What are you doing?”

She stood by the bed. “I was going to free you. You’ve been so good for me. Do you not want me to?”

“Do it, please, do it now. Quickly.”

She made quick work of untying him and squealed when he grabbed her. She found herself on her back with a feral Jon over her. He spread her legs and slammed back inside her. She cried out and dug her nails into his shoulders. 

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, stilling inside her, and she could hear the strain in his voice. 

She shook her head. “Fuck me.”

That was all he needed to pound her into the bed. He held her hips, slid his hands up to her breasts and surrounded them in his hands. And as he continued to move inside her, he bent over and took first one breast in his mouth and suckled from it, and then the other

He looked almost crazed when he looked down at her, pinning her to the bed with his penetrating gray eyes and cock. 

She slipped her hand down between them and rubbed her clit, all the while keeping her gaze locked on his. The sound of their flesh slapping together, their heavy breathing, and the bed creaking were the only sounds in the room. 

Her orgasm came swiftly, and she cried out, clutching at him, feeling as though her body was going into spasms as she came. Jon was right behind her, roaring and holding himself deep inside her. She reached up and drew him down to her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and he panted into the crook of her neck. 

“God, San…” he gasped. 

“Did you enjoy all that?” she asked giddily with a smile. 

He rolled over onto his back and drew her with him. He gathered her close and kissed the top of her head. “I loved it, but Jesus…it was hard not to break those fucking restraints.”

She giggled. “You did so well, honey.”

He slid one hand over her ass and squeezed. “Look at me, baby.”

She looked up at him, smiling, and he kissed her languidly, one hand at the back of her head. 

“Are you staying the night?” she asked. 

“Of course.”

She snuggled into him and sighed contentedly. 

“You wanna take a nap, sweet girl?”

She nodded and he began to stroke her back, which caused her to relax even more. 

“Sleep,” he said in that hypnotic deep voice of his. “I’m here now…”

She smiled. He certainly was. 

Come morning, the little bubble they’d slipped into burst when the cops finally showed up at her door.


	36. Chapter 36

Jon and Sansa were just about ready to take Lady for a walk when a knock came at the door. When she opened it, her stomach dropped. The cop standing before her on her front stoop held up a piece of paper and said, "We have a search warrant."

He was smirking, too. So, one of Cersei's little hound dogs. 

"A search warrant?" she repeated hollowly, peering at it. It was signed by a judge, and authorized the police to look for weapons and other evidence relating to the death of Joffrey Baratheon. It looked legit as far as search warrants went, but then she didn’t have any experience with them either. Was she stupid in trusting law enforcement to come into her house? Should she call her attorney now or let them in and not put up a fight? It wasn’t as though she had anything to hide. 

"May we come in?" the cop next to him asked.

"A search warrant? Are you fucking kidding me?" Jon said angrily. 

Sansa reached out and gripped his arm. "Jon, don't."

"Yeah, you little shit," the cop with the warrant said. "A search warrant."

"Don't let him needle you," Sansa hissed at Jon. Lady was barking her head off at this point. “Get Lady in her crate.”

"You better listen to your cougar girlfriend," the other cop said with a laugh. 

Jon took a step forward and Sansa swung herself around and cupped his face in her hands. "Do. Not. Say. A word," she hissed in his ear. “Go put Lady in her crate. Walk away.”

She then turned back to the door and as soon as she heard the snick of the lock on Lady’s crate, she gestured for the cops to enter. Four or five cops trooped in, and Jon quickly came back to her side. 

The last cop that entered shut the door behind him and looked at her. Burn scars marred one whole side of his face and Sansa felt herself staring. She looked away from him abruptly and noticed Jon do the same. 

"Do what you cunts came here to do and shut your mouths,” the scarred cop barked.  
There was a grumbling through the group. 

"Could you show us where your bedroom is?" The scarred cop asked Sansa.

"May I ask what your name is?" Sansa asked him politely.

"Detective Clegane."

"Follow me,” she said.

"We'll need your phones and computers, too," the cop with the warrant said. 

Sansa grabbed Jon's hand. "Come with me."

The best thing she could do was keep Jon with her to make sure he didn't lose his temper. 

She was shaking as she showed the cops where to go for what they needed. Nothing could have prepared her for the mess that was made or the utter violation she felt. She watched, fighting back tears, as everything was ravaged. Everything was a mess, touched by strangers, and she felt so incredibly violated. 

It was like she was watching her own robbery happen. Jon tried to pull her from the room so she didn't have to watch, but she forced herself to. She wanted them to report back to Cersei that she had watched and didn't shed a single goddamn tear. 

Lady, barking away in the living room in her crate, was the accompaniment to it all. 

"Is it necessary to go through my jewelry?" she asked to the one cop who had moved on from her drawers. 

"You telling me how to do my job?" The cop snapped. 

"Does it make you feel like a man to be a dick?" Jon asked. 

The cop rose and stormed over to him. Jon's lip curled into a snarl. "You want to say that again, punk?" the cop challenged. 

Sansa tugged on Jon’s hand and practically dragged him from the room. If he punched or threatened a cop it would not help them. Once in the hall, she cupped his face in her hands and made him look at her. "Jon, they want this to be upsetting. They want us to crack. It's all about intimidation and trying to get a rise out of us. You can't give them anything."

"Sansa, they're going through your shit like raccoons pawing through the trash!"

She heaved a sigh. "I know." And they’d taken some of that trash, too. Including what was out in her barrels in the garage. 

"Jon Snow?"

Jon turned and Sansa looked past him at Detective Clegane coming down the hall toward them. 

"Yeah?" Jon drawled. 

"Is it safe to say that everything you own is here?"

Jon frowned. "Most of it. Why?"

"Because your mother's house was searched as well. Nothing much was found there."

"What the fuck!" Jon shouted. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and he looked ready to take a swing. 

Sansa yanked him back towards her. "Jon, you have to stay calm."

"This is bullshit!" he shouted. 

“Life isn’t fair,” Detective Clegane said. 

"I need to see my Mom," Jon said and started down the hall. 

"You can after we leave, Snow," Detective Clegane said and walked away. 

Sansa could feel Jon's rage rolling off of him in waves and she felt so tense, she thought she just might snap or shatter. She drew her arms around him and held him tight. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said hoarsely. 

"Keep it together for me, okay? I need you to keep it together."

He nodded and held her tighter. "I will."

But it was hard. 

It went on forever, or at least it felt that way. Sansa was like a live wire, and Jon a caged animal.   
When they were told that they were wanted for questioning, Sansa took over and said that they first needed their attorneys. 

As the cops were filing out the door, Sansa could hear the mutters about "hot cougars" and "young dumb kids" She knew Jon heard it too with the way he balled his hands into fists all over again. When they were gone completely off the property, Jon let out a roar that Sansa thought might shake the foundation of the house. Lady stopped barking. 

“Go see your Mom, and while you’re there, contact your attorney,” Sansa told him. 

Jon just looked at her, chest heaving and eyes blazing. “And what are you going to do?”

“Contact my attorney. We are not answering questions without them.”

“They took my phone,” he murmured. “And my laptop. My homework…”

Tears pricked her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sansa, you haven’t done anything wrong. Why are you apologizing to me?”

Now she started to cry in earnest. “Because if you hadn’t gotten involved with me you wouldn’t have had your clothes, your phone, and your laptop taken.”

He strode over to her and gathered her up in his arms. “No, if Cersei wasn’t such a bitch I wouldn’t have had my clothes, phone, and laptop taken. And if Joffrey wasn’t so much of a dick to get himself killed.”

She nodded, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbed. “You need to get to your mother’s,” she said, but didn’t let him go. 

“Let’s just breathe a minute, okay?”

And so they did, until Sansa pushed out of his arms. 

“I’m coming back here,” he said. “Just call Robb or Jeyne until I can come back, and have them with you. Or go out and get out of here for a while, okay? I will help you clean up later.”

She shooed him away. “Go, go. I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t move. “Promise me you’ll call Robb or Jeyne.”

“I promise I’ll call Robb or Jeyne.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying that just to pacify me?”

She laughed, which was something considering all that she’d just experienced. “I’m not. I’m calling them. Go, Jon. She’s going to be freaking out if she can’t get ahold of you and she is no doubt trying now.”

He nodded, kissed her, and then left. 

Wiping at her eyes, Sansa let Lady out of her crate, and then out into the backyard. Then she went to her landline phone, which was hung up on the wall in the kitchen, and called her attorney. 

xxxxxxxx

When Robb showed up at her door, the last person Sansa expected to see with him was her mother. Her mother had taken Benjen out to dinner and called to check on him every day since he’d been home, but Sansa and Catelyn hadn’t talked much. Everything had centered on Benjen. 

Robb mouthed “Sorry” as he stepped inside, their mother right behind him. Lady barked a little, but after checking the two of them out, she shoved her head under Robb’s hands, seeking a petting, which he freely gave.

Catelyn immediately engulfed Sansa in her arms and stroked her hair. Sansa looked over at Robb as if to say “What is even happening right now?”

Catelyn pulled back to look at her daughter and furrowed her brows. “I am so sorry this happened to you.”

“So am I,” Sansa said. 

“Your brother was over when you called him and he told me what happened. I insisted on coming. What can I do?”

Sansa felt at a loss. “I—I honestly don’t know, Mom. I’m a little overwhelmed right now.” Her eyes welled up in tears and Catelyn embraced her. Sansa squeezed her eyes shut and just let her mother comfort her. 

“How about you let Robb and I help you clean up, hmmm?”

Sansa nodded. “Okay.”

“Where were they this afternoon?”

Sansa pulled back and wiped at her eyes. “The garage making a mess of my trash in the barrels, the bathroom, and my bedroom.”

“You got bleach? I’ll scour the bathroom.”

Sansa smiled, starting to feel better already. 

“I’ll check out the trash situation in the garage,” Robb said. 

“Thank you,” Sansa whispered. 

“And then we’ll order dinner and have some wine and relax, okay?” Catelyn said with a smile. 

Well, the wine wasn’t going to happen, but she’d find a way around that. She bit her lip. “Um, Jon is planning on coming over later, too. Is it all right if he joins us?”

Catelyn pursed her lips together and Sansa feared her mother was going to say no. But then she nodded and said, “Sure. I suppose I should get to know him, shouldn’t I?”

“Thank you, Mom,” Sansa said and hugged her mother quickly. 

“Shall we begin then?” Catelyn asked with a smile.

xxxxxxxxxxx

While Catelyn started on her bathroom, Sansa walked out with Robb to her garage. 

“So, she’s coming around then…” Robb said. 

Sansa nodded as she flicked on the light in the garage. The trash had been rifled through all right, and the barrels knocked over. Trash spilled out of them, but it wasn’t as bad as Sansa had thought it would be. 

Robb went over to grab the broom she used for sweeping the walk from the wall next to the weedwhacker and other garden tools. “I’m gonna need a dust pan,” he told her. 

“I’ll get it for you,” she said and stuck her hands in the back pocket of her jeans. She rocked back and forth on her heels. 

Robb arched a brow. “When exactly did you plan to get it?”

“How are you doing with, you know, everything?”

Robb sighed. “Jeyne, you mean?”

She nodded. 

“I’m okay. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

Sansa snorted. “Tell me about it.”

He shrugged. “What are ya gonna do, ya know? Life is fucking weird.”

Sansa sighed and looked at the spilled trash. “It is,” she murmured. 

“I talked to Benjen this morning,” Robb said. “I’m going to the funeral tomorrow with Mom. Hopefully, Cersei doesn’t make a scene.”

“I wanted to go for him, but I know that I can’t under the circumstances so I’m glad that you and Mom will be there.”

“I know I’m not supposed to speak ill of the dead, and I know that he was Benjen’s father, but fucking hell…I’m not sorry he’s dead.”

“I think only Cersei is,” Sansa said matter-of-factly. 

“I’m sure there was a line of people who wanted that fucker dead. What’s the next step for you?”

“Questioning. I got in touch with my attorney after the cops left, and Jon went to his mother’s because they searched there, but also here…”

“Because you two are essentially living together now?”

“We’re not. I mean, he spends a lot of time here, but we’re not – what? What’s that look? We’re not!”

Robb just chuckled. “Okay, sure.”

Sansa rolled her eyes while absently rubbing her belly. “I’ll get that dust pan.”

Sansa made her way into the house and into the kitchen. Lady followed her in and Sansa told her that she was getting Uncle Robb a dustpan when her mother emerged from the bathroom. Her brow was furrowed as she peeled off the cleaning gloves she wore, and she carried just a whiff of bleach with her. 

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Sansa asked as she dug under the sink for the dustpan.

“Has Jon moved in?” Catelyn asked, placing the cleaning gloves on the kitchen table. 

Sansa stood and looked at her. “What?”

“I noticed he has a lot of things here – shampoo, body wash, deodorant, toothbrush, hair gel, stuff for his beard… is he living here?”

Sansa blinked. She didn’t think so…

Then she thought of what Detective Clegane had asked Jon, if all his stuff was here rather than his mother’s and Jon had said most of it was. 

And then she thought of the drawer he’d taken over in her bureau. His clothes in her closet. Some of his DVD’s in her entertainment center…

 _That little shit_ , she thought and pursed her lips together. 

“Sansa? Is he?”

It would appear that he was. She was not, however, going to let on to her mother that she had completely missed it all while Jon had just helped himself. 

“He’s not,” Sansa said. “He just spends the night here a lot. He goes home when Benjen does.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear he respects Benjen’s needs.”

“He does. Jon is very understanding.”

“Well, he tries to be,” came Jon’s deep voice. He appeared behind Catelyn and then came around and stopped beside her. He held out a hand. “Hello, Mrs. Stark.”

Catelyn looked down at his hand and then up at him. Sansa waited, hoping she’d take his hand. She did, and Sansa breathed a sigh of relief. Lady rushed over to Jon and Jon patted her with his free hand. 

“Mom, do you mind starting in my bedroom while I take this dustpan out to Robb?” Sansa asked when the peacemaking handshake was over. 

“Of course not dear.”

“I want to wash everything they touched,” Sansa told her. “So, if you want to start by putting everything in the hamper and I’ll be in to help you.”

“Of course,” Catelyn said and headed off to Sansa’s bedroom. 

“How’s your Mom?” Sansa asked Jon. “She okay?”

“She was shook up. She’s worried about me.”

“Of course she is. You called your attorney?”

Jon nodded as he came over and placed his hands on her hips. He tugged her in close and kissed her sweetly. “Are you feeling better?”

She shrugged. “I found something to take my mind off it…”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Robb and my mother asking me if you’ve moved in.”

Jon bit his lip and Sansa smacked him lightly in the stomach. “You little shit,” she hissed. 

“Hey, in all fairness, you didn’t even notice. The transition was seamless.”

“Yeah, because I’ve been _preoccupied_.”

“San—”

“We’ll talk about this later,” she said as she moved around him. “Now go help my mother. That’s your punishment.”


	37. Chapter 37

“Hello again,” Jon said as he stood in the doorway of Sansa’s bedroom. No - _their_ bedroom. Well, hopefully theirs…Jon wasn’t sure on that score anymore. 

Catelyn looked up from where she was picking up the clothes the cops had scattered to the floor and tossing them in the hamper she must have pulled from the bathroom. “Do you need something, Jon?”

“I’m here to help,” he said. 

Catelyn looked about as comfortable with that idea as he felt. “Oh, well, I grabbed a couple laundry baskets from the cellar. Do you want to help me pick up the clothes?”

“I think I’ll strip the bed first,” he said, thinking about how one of the cops had sat on it. Then he thought about how that might have sounded to Catelyn and reminded her that he was indeed having (fucking hot and amazing) sex with her daughter. He cleared his throat. “One of the cops sat down on it,” he explained. 

Catelyn didn’t say anything so he wasn’t sure if she heard him or was choosing to just ignore him. He started to strip the bed, fine with working in silence. Catelyn Stark was never going to like him and he was fine with that. She didn’t have to like him. She just had to accept that he was going to be part of Sansa’s life and wasn’t allowed to make Sansa feel bad for that. 

He had just finished taking off the sheets when Catelyn stepped up to the other side of the bed and looked at him, lips pursed. “Jon.”

 _Here we go_ , he thought. “Yes?”

“I’m not going to lie and pretend that I accept you with open arms,” she said. 

“I appreciate your honesty?”

She looked disapproving now, and Jon thought perhaps he should just keep his mouth shut. “Sorry,” he mumbled. 

“I have my doubts about the staying power of the relationship you and my daughter have.”

 _All right, Catelyn, I’m gonna let you finish_ , Jon thought. _Us getting along is important to Sansa. Remember that and choose your words carefully, Catelyn._

“I don’t want my daughter’s heart broken,” Catelyn said. 

“Neither do I,” Jon couldn’t resist saying. 

“I’m not going to argue with either of you about this. It hurts Sansa, and I know it does. My concern is also with Benjen, but he seems to be coming around a little and I can only attribute that to how you were there when Joffrey went after the both of them.”

Jon nodded slowly. 

“And I do thank you for that. God only knows what that monster would have done had you not stopped him.”

“Benjen and Sansa mean the world to me. I wouldn’t let anyone ever hurt them,” Jon said solemnly. 

Catelyn nodded. “Thank you. I hope you mean that.”

“I do. Catelyn, Sansa is it for me. I know you don’t believe me when I say it, and Sansa sure as hell doesn’t, but I know my truth. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with your daughter.”

“I am not sure I believe it, but I can see you do.”

Jon stifled an exasperated sigh. He was beginning to see where Sansa got her stubbornness from. 

“I’m going to bring this load down,” Catelyn said. “Bring the rest down when you’re done.”

He nodded. “Will do.”

When she left the room, Jon heaved a sigh. Well, despite how much of a punishment that was supposed to be, it hadn’t gone as badly as it could have gone. So there was that. 

xxxxxxxxxxx

“All right, just spit it out.”

Sansa blinked at her brother. “What?”

Robb stopped sweeping and gestured to her. “You have something you want to say, I can tell. Just say it.”

“How can you tell that?”

“You’re watching me sweep and you’re rocking back and forth on your feet with your hands tucked in your back pockets. That’s a sure sign you’ve got something on your mind. What is it?”

“I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Jesus, is Jeyne already dating someone or something? Did she cheat on me?”

Sansa shook her head and waved her hands in front of her. “No, no, Jesus! It has nothing to do with you. Sorry, I should have led with that.”

“You haven’t really led with anything yet.”

“Okay, well, you know how when two people really love each other—”

“Oh Christ, are you giving me a sex talk? Is it going to be as awkward as when Dad talked to me about jerking off in the shower?”

“Oh my God, did you do that?!”

“Well, yeah! I’m a guy and I was a teenager and I had needs!”

“I had needs, what the fuck kind of reason is that?”

“Language!”

“ _Robb_.”

He waved his hand in a circular motion. “Spit it out, Sansa.”

“I’m pregnant.”

He stared at her. Blinked. His whole face went slack. He blinked again. “You’re – how?”

“When two people really love each other—”

“I know how babies are made, Sansa!”

“Well, you asked how!”

“I just meant…I just…”

She arched a brow. “Okay, now you need to just spit it out.”

“At your age—”

“Really? You went there? Jesus, Robb.”

“Well, fuck what do you want me to say? You have a son who’s eighteen for Christ’s sake!”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I have a doctor’s appointment in a few days and I’ll know more about where I’m at…my doctor said I was healthy enough to have another one the last time I saw her.”

“Did she know about Jon?”

“No. I wasn’t seeing anyone at the time.”

Robb shifted on his feet and leaned into the broom. “So… how does Jon feel about this?”

“He’s over the moon about it. Jeyne thinks along with a Wedding Trapper Keeper he’s keeping a Baby Trapper Keeper.”

Robb chuckled. “That sounds like something she’d say. How do _you_ feel about it?”

“Freaked out. Benjen doesn’t know.”

“Oh Jesus, Benjen.”

“Yeah.”

“When are you going to tell him?”

“Um…what are the chances of him not finding out until I pop it out of me?”

“He might question why you suddenly got fat.”

“Fat? Really, Robb? That’s what you’ve reduced me carrying life inside me to? I’m just getting fat? I’m not housing a _human being_ in my womb or anything—”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, poor choice of words!” He sighed and raked a hand through his curls. “You’re gonna have to tell Benjen before you’re bringing Baby Jail Bait home, Sansa.”

She snorted and then started to laugh. “Baby Jail Bait.”

Robb grinned, clearly proud of himself for that one. 

Once her laughter subsided, she let out a loud whiny sigh and said, “I’ll tell him once I’m sure all systems are go. So, in about nine weeks.”

“Sansa. You’re gonna have to tell him before that.”

“Why worry him or stress him out with the news before I’ve passed the home stretch. He needs time to adjust to all this loss and all the shit Joffrey piled on him before he got himself killed.”

Robb nodded, looking and sounded resigned but still not quite on board with her plan as he said, “Okay, okay… what about Mom?”

“Her I’m definitely not telling until I have it.”

Robb laughed softly. “Sansa. Mom’s like a blood hound. She’ll probably be able to sniff it out on you.”

Sansa laughed. “Remember when Uncle Edmure said it would take silver bullets to knock her down?”

Robb laughed. “He wasn’t wrong.”

“I sent Jon in to help her clean my bedroom.” 

“What did he do?”

Sansa burst out laughing. “Well, come to find out…did you know that he’s living with me?”

Robb smirked. “Really?” he drawled. “You don’t say.”

“Yeah, okay, so you were right. I just never realized.”

“Well, you’ve had a lot going on.”

“And he’s a sneaky little fucker.”

“Let me stop you right there. I don’t need to know about your sex life.”

“Okay, but he is not a little fucker like that—”

“I beg of you to stop. As far as I’m concerned, Sansa, you’ve gotten pregnant both times by Immaculate Conception. Not because you had sex.”

“Did someone say sex?” 

Robb looked past Sansa, who looked over her shoulder at Jon who was walking through the garage door. “Well, well, if it isn’t the young stud now,” Robb said. 

Sansa looked at her brother. “Can you not?”

“What’s going on?” Jon asked as he came up beside Sansa. 

“I just told Robb I’m pregnant and he’s being gross,” she said. “How’d it got with my Mom? You’re upright so I’m assuming you’re okay.”

“We had a good talk,” Jon told her. “I stripped the bed.”

“La la la la la!” Robb shouted. 

Sansa just looked at him and he grinned cheekily. 

“Your clothes are in the wash,” Jon said, ignoring Robb. “And as soon as those are done, I’ll put the bedding in.”

“Thank you,” Sansa said. 

He looked at her with those puppy dog eyes. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

“Well, this is getting into an area that is none of my business. I’m gonna go inside and see Mom,” Robb said and passed over the broom to Sansa. “Just a small pile over there,” he said and pointed to assorted wrappers and dirt. He whistled, jamming his hands in his pockets as he strolled inside the house. 

Jon took the broom and grabbed the dustpan from the floor and cleaned up the mess. He dumped the contents in the trash and leaned the broom against the wall and after putting the lid back on the trash, placed the dustpan next to it. 

He looked at her with puppy dog eyes again and Sansa narrowed her eyes. Jon straightened and adopted a solemn expression. 

“Here’s the thing,” she began. 

“This sounds familiar.”

“I’m sure. Because the last time I said it you were assuming something else.”

“Sansa, how can you blame me for wanting to be here with you? After everything that happened with Joffrey and now with you being pregnant? I’m sorry, but I’m not going to live with my Mommy while my girlfriend is pregnant with my kid.”

“Jon, you can’t just do things without asking me first! Especially with things like moving in! That’s a huge step and do you have any idea how dumb it makes me feel that my brother, my mother, and fucking Lieutenant Clegane figured it out before I did?”

“You’ve had a lot on your plate—”

“Jon! It’s not okay for you to do that. You crossed a line. If we’re going to be partners, you have to talk to me about big things like that. And just for clarification, the small things too. It’s not okay for you to just assume or go ahead and do whatever you want without talking it over with me.”

He looked properly chastened at that, and definitely sorry. He stepped forward. “I’m sorry. Sansa, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to hear you tell me no.”

“Yeah, I know exactly why you did it. That pesky word ‘no’ isn’t part of your vocabulary.”

“Do you want me to move back to my mother’s? I will if you want me to.”

“I should make you,” she muttered. 

“But you’re not going to?” he asked hopefully. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, buddy.”

With a little laugh, Jon looped his finger into one of the belt loops on her jeans and pulled her into him. “You like having me here all the time, don’t you? Falling asleep in my arms? Waking up in them, too?”

“That’s not the point.”

“I know, sweet girl. I’m sorry. I really am. I just wanted to be with you. I always want to be with you, especially now. Can you blame me?”

“You still need to talk to me about these things.”

“Sansa, do you want me to go? I will if you ask me. Not happily, mind you, but I will.”

The part of her that wanted him to learn his lesson about assuming and boundaries wanted to send him home with his things and make him ask and wait for her answer. The other part of her that wanted him with her, didn’t want him to do that. 

But, she had learned with Jon that he learned better with compromise. 

“I want you to go home for a few days,” she told him. “I’ll let you know when you can come back.”

He leaned in to kiss her and she pressed her finger to his lips and shook her head. “There will be no seducing your way into my good graces on this one.”

He pulled her hand away and managed to steal a knee-melting kiss anyway. “Let me try?” he asked huskily.

She shook her head and laughed. “No.”

The door opened then Sansa looked over Jon’s shoulder to find her Mom in the doorway with Robb standing behind her. 

“I’m going to go to the store and get a few things,” Catelyn said. “What would you like for wine?”

Sansa opened her mouth but no sound came out. She could just tell her Mom that she was getting over a stomach bug. But then, before she could say a word, Robb said absently while looking down at his phone, “Sansa can’t have wine.”

Sansa’s eyes went wide. Robb’s did too as he slowly looked up from his phone and at her. 

“Why can’t Sansa have wine?” Catelyn asked in confusion. She must have put the pieces together from the look on Sansa’s face, and possibly Jon’s, for her mouth fell open. “Are you pregnant?” she demanded. 

“Fuck,” Jon muttered.

Sansa sighed. “Can open, worms everywhere.”


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank Jeanettesc for her help on this one... ;)

"You're pregnant?!" Catelyn exclaimed. "Sansa, how did this happen?"

"Well, Mom," Robb began, "when two people love each other very much—"

"Not now, Robb!" Catelyn shouted. She rubbed her forehead. "Forget wine. I need hard liquor. I just don't understand. How are you not on any form of birth control?"

"I am," Sansa said. "It was just that I missed a night during peak conception time and...yeah."

"Does Benjen know?" 

Sansa shook her head. "No. Not yet. And I don't want him to. Not for a while."

"This is badly done, Sansa," Catelyn said. "Badly done."

Jon's feathers were ruffled and Sansa could tell by the look on his face that he was about to blow. That was confirmed when he stepped forward as if shielding her. Sansa put her hand on his arm, staying him. He looked back at her, and she could see him trying his best not holler at her mother. 

"I didn't plan it, Mother," Sansa said. "It was an accident. I have an alarm on my phone that lets me know when to take it, and it never went off. I don't know why, but it just didn't."

“You haven’t figured out how to keep track of time on your own?”

Sansa’s mouth fell open. How was it her mother could make her feel like a little girl being scolded in no time flat? “I sometimes get distracted doing other things.”

Robb snorted. 

“Shut up, Robb,” Catelyn and Sansa said at the same time. 

Catelyn sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Not to be indelicate, but do you plan to keep it?”

“Yes, she does,” Jon said firmly. 

Catelyn looked at him sharply and Sansa lurched forward to now step in front of him. “Mother, I do plan to keep it.”

Her mother shook her head. “I’m going to get some liquor. I’ll be back in a while.”

She marched out of the garage and out to her car and Sansa exhaled loudly. “Well, that went well.”

“Sorry about that, San,” Robb said with a frown. “Forgive me?”

“I will if you do me one huge favor tomorrow?”

“Name it.”

“Keep watch over Benjen tomorrow?”

Robb nodded, his expression sad. “Of course.”

Jon came up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. Sansa nestled into his side and sagged against him. _Once upon a time_ , she thought, _life had been quiet…_

xxxxxxxx

Catelyn was much calmer when she returned from getting some vodka and milk to make White Russians. They finished up her laundry together, and Jon made her bed. Then he and Robb put on some sports game in the living room while Sansa hung some clothes in her closet and put some in away in drawers while her mother sipped her White Russian on Sansa’s bed and watched her. 

“Are you sure having a baby is what you want, Sansa?” Catelyn asked. 

Sansa shut her underwear drawer and looked at her mother. “Honestly? I haven’t really had any time to process it. I found out I was pregnant and then the next morning, Joffrey was dead.”

“Have you considered how Benjen will feel about this?”

Sansa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Of course. He has been my biggest concern ever since Jon and I started this relationship.”

Catelyn pursed her lips together.

Sansa narrowed her eyes. “You don’t believe me?”

“I have my doubts since the relationship was allowed to begin in the first place.”

“Okay, listen, Mom. I love you. I do. And I am grateful for all that you’ve done for me. But this is my life, and I’m going to make mistakes in it, but they are my mistakes to make. I’ve spent my whole life trying to do the right thing and trying to make you proud. I know that you’re not happy with me right now, but I can’t help that. I’m not giving up my baby and I’m not giving up Jon either. I love him and he loves me and we’re going to be a family.”

 _Holy crap_ , she immediately thought. _Did I just really say we were going to be a family?_

“I will keep my opinions to myself then,” Catelyn said a bit stiffly and Sansa got the impression that she didn’t really want to, and maybe even wanted Sansa to tell her that she didn’t have to do that. 

But, she wasn’t going to do that.

She loved her mother. 

She needed her mother.

But she was also not going to let her fill her head with doubts and fears. She was capable of doing that well enough on her own. 

Catelyn stood then. “Take-out menus?”

“In the drawer near the fridge.”

Catelyn nodded and left the room. 

Sansa heard her say, “Excuse me, Jon,” and then Jon came in the room and shut the door behind him. 

She forced a smile, feeling weary to her bones in that moment. “Having fun with Robb?”

He nodded and without a word came up to her and drew her into his arms. He kissed her soundly, bending her back over his arm and she giggled and gripped his arms. He broke the kiss, panting, and she gazed up at him, panting as well. “What was that for?” she asked. 

He smiled and drew them upright. “You love me. You said we’re going to be a family.”

She swatted him playfully on the arm. “You were eavesdropping!”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Not really. I came down to check on you since you know, your Mom, and heard what you said. I was in the right place at the right time. Was she giving you shit?”

“Yeah, kind of.” She sighed. “I suppose I can’t really blame her considering she hasn’t even fully accepted us and then she finds out I’m pregnant.”

“Speaking of Mom’s finding out you’re pregnant…”

Sansa blanched. “She hates me doesn’t she?”

Jon sighed. “She’s not pleased.”

“And the hits just keep on coming.” Sansa let her forehead fall to his shoulder with a bit of a thud. “And to top it all off, her house was searched this morning and her kid is going to be going in for questioning.”

“Don’t call me ‘kid’, San.”

“Sorry.”

“Listen, we knew there was going to be some pushback on our relationship.”

Sansa started to laugh. She lifted her head and looked up at him. “No, Jon, I knew there was going to be pushback. You were happily living in the land of denial for quite some time that everyone would just magically be okay with us.”

He frowned. “Are you sure you’re remembering that correctly?” She looked at him witheringly and he laughed. “I know; I’m teasing. But listen…”

She arched a brow. “I’m listening.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you. And you love me. And we’re going to be a family. That includes Benjen, obviously. We’re going to get through all this and prove them all wrong about us. They think we’re going to end. They think we have a shelf life. We don’t. We’re forever.”

Apparently, he was willing to forget, or at least not mention that she had her own set of doubts. That was fine with her. She needed some of his positivity. It had been a shit day, and a shit couple of months – her relationship with Jon notwithstanding. When she was with him, she was the happiest she could remember being despite the shit storm surrounding them.

She did love him. So much. And she wanted him in her life for as long as she could have him. And she hoped with all her might that meant forever. 

“I love you,” she murmured as she ran one hand through his curls. 

He smiled. That smile that was just for her. “I love you too, baby,” he murmured and wrapped her up in his arms. 

Burying her face in his neck, she thought about earlier when he’d asked how she liked waking up in his arm and falling asleep in them. She liked it. A lot. 

She liked coming home to him. She liked knowing he would be there if she asked. And oftentimes she didn’t even have to ask. 

_What’s that song about putting a ring on it?_ she thought as she kissed his neck. He moaned and she smiled. How could she not want the only man that ever made her feel like a Goddess and treated her like one, too?

“Uh, are you guys dressed in there?”

Sansa rolled her eyes and lifted her head to look at Jon who was rolling his eyes, but with a grin. “Yes, Robb!” she called out. 

The door opened and she and Jon parted as Robb entered. He held up two menus. “I want Chinese. Mom wants Italian. You two get to make the final decisions. No pressure, but I did have to sweep trash. Just sayin’.”

“I need to stay on Mom’s good side so I’m with her,” Sansa said. 

“And considering she is going to be my daughter’s grandmother and my mother-in-law one day, I have to go with her, too,” Jon said. 

“Daughter?” Sansa asked at the same time Robb asked, “Mother-in-law?” 

Jon looked from Sansa to Robb and then back again. “Well, yeah,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a little girl.” He looked at Robb. “And yeah, man, I want to marry your sister.” He darted a hopeful look at Sansa. “Preferably soon.”

“I’m disappointed,” Robb said.

Jon looked at him, eyes narrowing. “What?”

“Considering the stealth you employed to move in here, I’m surprised you haven’t smuggled a JP in here to seal the deal.”

Sansa pointed at her brother. “Don’t give him ideas. Tomorrow I’ll come home and he’ll have one.”

“Would that be so terrible?” Jon asked her indignantly. 

“One step at a time, honey,” she told him. “Let’s just get through this mess with Joffrey and telling Benjen I’m pregnant and then we can deal with that part.”

Jon nodded slowly, studying her. “It is going to happen, Sansa. You know that, right?”

She smiled. “I do.”

“Cheeky,” Robb said with a laugh. “All right, I’ll tell Mom we’re having Chinese food.”

“Italian!” both Jon and Sansa yelled after him and then burst into laughter. They both charged after him, and even though it had been a really shitty day – or at least the beginning had been – she was happy right now in this moment. Her mom might not be happy about her relationship with Jon, but she would eventually, hopefully, come around. Honestly, for Sansa, as long as Benjen came around she could handle any other opposition. 

Jon always called her the love of his life and Sansa knew, without a doubt, that he was the love of hers. She looked over at him as he joked with her brother in the kitchen and thought, _I am going to marry him. One day, maybe soon, he will be my husband._

And she couldn’t wait. 

However, she figured she was going to have to make those plans soon before Jon took Robb’s idea and ran with it before she could surprise him completely.


	39. Chapter 39

"What are you thinking about?" Sansa asked Jon softly as they lay together in a chaise lounge for two on her deck, gazing up at the stars. Robb and Catelyn had left about an hour before, and Jon grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and dragged Sansa outside with him. She was half on top of him, on her side, one leg across his lap and her head on his shoulder. Jon had one arm wrapped her, holding her close, and their free hands were laced together on his stomach. 

"I'm thinking that despite all the shit going on around us, I'm happy," he said and kissed the top of her head. "What are you thinking?"

"A few things."

"Okay, the first thing."

"The funeral tomorrow."

Jon sighed. "Yeah."

"Telling Benjen I'm pregnant."

"I was thinking about that too, actually."

She moved her head back against the back of the chaise so she could look at him. "Yeah?"

He nodded and looked over at her. "I think we should tell him together. I think it's important for him to see us being a united front - a _couple _\- at that point. I think he needs to see that we're in this together, and that he's a part of us. Do you get what I'm saying?"__

__She smiled gently. "I do. And I think you're right." Her expression turned pained. "It's still going to be hard for him. He could lash out at us. God, the poor kid. He's been through so much already."_ _

__"It might help him understand that I'm not going anywhere, too. That we are in fact going to be a family." He squeezed her hand. "San, I think maybe you should seriously consider getting him a therapist. And not just because of us, but because of his Dad, too."_ _

__"I think you're right. I'll talk to him about it."_ _

__"Okay, so that was a bit heavy and we already had a heavy day. Next thought?"_ _

__Sansa grinned mischievously and maneuvered herself over him until she was straddling him with the blanket draped about her shoulders like a cape._ _

__Jon grinned up at her, placing his hands on her hips. "Was this it? I already like it."_ _

__"My next thought was you know, just a general wondering about...a wedding?"_ _

__His grin turned into a full-fledged smile that lit up his entire face. "I _definitely_ want to hear more about this."_ _

__"You may be the only man I've ever met who wants to hear about weddings and marriage and kids. The only eighteen-year-old, too."_ _

__"I've always been a little ahead of the curve."_ _

__Sansa snorted. "Did you come out of the womb walking and talking? Ready to drive at ten?"_ _

__"Eleven."_ _

__She giggled and played with the hem of his shirt. His stomach clenched under her touch and she smiled as she bit her lip. "Do you want a big wedding or a small wedding?"_ _

__"All I require is that you say 'I do' and I get to call you my wife after."_ _

__She arched a brow. "That's it? You're setting the bar really low, honey."_ _

__He shrugged. "I'm a simple man - why are you laughing?"_ _

__"You are _not_ a simple man. You are a pain in my _ass_."_ _

__"Hey, now! I'd like to think I've enhanced your life."_ _

__"You have, but my God, Jon, you are relentless when it comes to something you want."_ _

__"Aren't you happy though, that what I want is you?"_ _

__"You mean, even despite the fact that you moved in without telling me?"_ _

__He grinned. "Yes. Despite that."_ _

__She sighed and held up her hands. He laced his through hers and she pinned his hands down by his shoulders and leaned over him. "So, if we had a small wedding that would be okay?"_ _

__"More than okay," he said huskily and nuzzled at the side of her face. “I don’t care about the venue, Sansa. I just want you to be my wife.”_ _

__“Jeyne thinks you have a Wedding Trapper Keeper.”_ _

__Jon laughed. “I don’t.”_ _

__“Do you have a Baby Trapper Keeper?”_ _

__“Well, I did keep the second test.”_ _

__She made a face. “Really? I peed on that, Jon.”_ _

__“It told me you were gonna have my baby. That’s all I care about.”_ _

__She shook her head in wonderment. “Where did you come from? Are there more like you out there?”_ _

__“Nope. You see, we were specially made for each other.”_ _

__“And here I thought _I_ was a romantic…”_ _

__He lifted his head. “Kiss me.”_ _

__She did, and they shared a moan. She sat back up and felt him hardening against her ass. She smirked and rubbed her butt from side to side against his cock._ _

__"Sansa," he gasped. "Come back here." She leaned back down and kissed him. "I want you," he murmured against her lips. "I want to fuck the bad day away."_ _

__"The night is turning out really well,” she said softly with a coy smile._ _

__"I want you out here under the stars. _Right now_."_ _

__She looked over her shoulder. Well, there was wooden fence on either side, and they were high enough to shield them from the neighbors. The woods were right behind them so unless someone was hanging out back there they were safe from prying eyes._ _

__She bit her lip and looked at him, his eyes black. He undid the snap of her jeans and that decided it for her. They made quick work of undressing – Jon wanted them to be completely naked._ _

__“But it’s chilly out!” she whined as she got back on top of him, her shirt still on._ _

__“We have a blanket, fuck me under the blanket,” he said urgently. “Fuck, I need you to ride me, baby.”_ _

__“You need it, huh?” she teased, sliding her wet pussy against his cock._ _

__“I always need you. I want you endlessly, baby. Fucking hell – take off that damn shirt and fuck me,” he growled._ _

__Laughing, and feeling like a fucking Goddess, Sansa let the blanket drop from her shoulders momentarily and whipped off her shirt. She tossed it at his face and he tossed it away. She got rid of her bra and then his hands were there, cupping her, rubbing her nipples with his thumbs._ _

__“Put me inside you,” he gasped._ _

__After pulling the blanket back up over her shoulders, she lifted up and took hold of his cock, placing it at her entrance and then sank down on him. They shared a moan, and then she placed her hands on the back of the chaise so that her breasts dangled in his face. Jon sucked one into his mouth while fondling the other, and then switched. Her nipples hardened when the cool air hit them and she hissed as she slowly rode the length of him._ _

__"How's that feel, baby?" he murmured, holding both breasts in her hands as he looked up at her._ _

__"I think your dick was made for me," she moaned. “God, I can feel every inch of you inside me. Every ridge and vein...”_ _

__“Your pussy is squeezing me so fucking tight…Christ, it feels good.” He sat up and drew her head down. He kissed her long and hard and deep. "Faster," he breathed. "Harder. Fuck me, Sansa."_ _

__She pushed at him. "Lay back."_ _

__He did so and she placed her hands on his chest and fucked him just the way he wanted - and how she wanted to as well. She wiggled her ass and bounced it up and down on his cock, using his chest for leverage. Her breasts swayed and bounced and Jon's gaze kept drifting from them to her face and back again. When his brows pinched together and his hands gripped her hips harder, she knew he was close._ _

__“Is it true pregnant women crave sex after a certain point?” he asked through gritted teeth._ _

__“Yes.”_ _

__“Good. I can’t wait until you jump my bones.”_ _

__“Don’t I jump them now?”_ _

__“Not as much as I jump yours. Fuck!”_ _

__"Play with my clit," she gasped and sat up, covering her breasts with her hands._ _

__Jon growled as he watched her, and then drew one hand down to her where they were connected and sought out her nub. He rubbed and she rode him even harder, and even faster._ _

__Soon, she couldn't hold back - and she didn't want to. She cried out, uncaring of her neighbors. Jon roared his release. Lady barked at them from inside._ _

__Jon lifted his hips and drove his length into her, and held himself there, unloading his cum inside her. Sansa fell against him, and felt the cool air on her skin. The blanket had fallen off of her at some point, but she honestly couldn't bring herself to care. Jon wrapped her up in his arms and drew the blanket back up and over their heads._ _

__She laughed softly and kissed him. "I love you, Jon."_ _

__"Oh, baby girl. I love you, too," he murmured sounding almost choked with emotion. She smiled and snuggled into him, unwilling to move from their little cocoon. Despite how she had told him earlier that he was going to have to go home and spend the night at his Mom's, she knew she wouldn't make him._ _

__What did that matter now anyway? He was going to be her husband one day soon after all._ _

__xxxxxx_ _

__"So, Cersei knows you’re pregnant," Robb told Sansa the following afternoon on the phone._ _

__Sansa put the book she had been attempting to read next to her on the couch. She heard the rumble of the lawn mower go by outside. Jon had offered to cut the lawn for her, and she jumped on the offer. "How did she find out?” Sansa asked incredulously._ _

__"I overheard her talking to someone at the funeral about it," Robb said. "She said the cops found a test when they searched the house.”_ _

__Sansa felt a cold sweat break out over her. "Goddammit. Does Benjen know? Did he say anything? Did he hear?"_ _

__"You would have been so proud of me and Mom, San. We flanked that boy like we were his fucking bodyguards. He was always either with one of us or both of us. Tyrion helped, too. He knows. He says congratulations."_ _

__Sansa rolled her eyes. "Where is my boy now?"_ _

__"He's with Tyrion. Rumor has it he'll be heading your way soon. You might want to tell him sooner rather than later, Sansa. If Cersei knows..."_ _

__"It won't be long before everybody knows."_ _

__"Exactly."_ _

__Sansa sat back with a sigh. "How did he do? Is he okay?"_ _

__"He's...well, I mean, he's a mess."_ _

__Sansa welled up in tears, hating the thought of Benjen in pain._ _

__Jon came through the door then, wiping his brow and brushing some leaves from his shirt. "Benjen's home," he said._ _

__"Robb, he's home. I have to go."_ _

__"Do you want me to come over?"_ _

__She bit her lip. "Could you?" Maybe it was the wimpy thing to do, but in case Benjen needed or wanted someone other than her..._ _

__"I'm on my way."_ _

__Sansa hung up and looked up at Jon, her gaze drifting to the door. "Cersei knows I'm pregnant. The cops had my birth control test."_ _

__His eyes went wide. "Shit."_ _

__"Robb's on his way over. Jon, we have to tell—” She broke off when she heard Benjen coming through the door. She jumped up and when Benjen came through the door, he stopped abruptly and stared at his Mom. His gaze drifted to Jon and he frowned, and then back to Sansa._ _

__“How are you doing, Benjen?” Jon asked gently._ _

__“My Dad is dead. How do you think I am?” Benjen asked._ _

__“I know; I’m sorry,” Jon said softly and looked at Sansa for help._ _

__She stepped forward. “What do you want, Benjen? Anything?”_ _

__Benjen tugged at his tie. “I want to take this suit off.”_ _

__Sansa nodded. “Okay, you can do that. Anything else?”_ _

__“I don’t know, Mom. I just need a few minutes. Is that okay?”_ _

__Sansa nodded. “Of course, honey.”_ _

__Benjen jerked his head in Jon’s direction. “He staying?”_ _

__“If that’s okay,” Jon said hopefully._ _

__“Whatever,” Benjen said with a shrug and headed toward his room._ _

__Sansa sat down on the couch and Jon sat down beside her. “I didn’t want to do this today of all days,” she whispered. “But with Cersei knowing, it's just a matter of time. I’m surprised she didn’t announce it at the funeral.”_ _

__“He’s here now, maybe we could just wait until tomorrow and tell him.”_ _

__“Yeah, that’s good a good idea. We can tell him tomorrow. Or the next day. I want to do it before she spills the beans, but it doesn’t have to be—”_ _

__“All right, what the hell is going on now?” Benjen said as he came back into the living room. His jacket and tie were off and he looked like a thundercloud. “I’m assuming the him you’re talking about is me. So, what’s going on? What do you have to tell me?”_ _


	40. Chapter 40

“The uh, cops were here yesterday,” Sansa said quickly. “They had a search warrant.”

Benjen gaped at her and Jon shot her a look that seemed to ask the question, Are you sure this is what you want to tell him?

Sansa ignored him. 

“Why?” Benjen sputtered. 

“They were looking for evidence. In an investigation like this one, they have to cover all bases,” Sansa explained. 

Benjen’s jaw twitched from how tight he had it clenched. “It was Gramma Lannister wasn’t it? She thought you had something to do with it.”

Sansa nodded slowly. 

“My Mom’s house was searched, too,” Jon said softly. 

Benjen now turned disbelieving eyes on him. “You too? Why?”

Jon shrugged. “I hit him. And I’m with your Mom.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Benjen muttered and raked a hand through his blond locks. “Crap, Mom, are you okay?”

She nodded. “I am.”

“No one said anything about that to me,” Benjen said. “Did Uncle Tyrion know?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe?”

Benjen sighed. “I feel like I’m the last to know everything lately. I don’t like it.”

“You’ve had a lot on your plate, honey,” Sansa said gently. 

“I know,” he said pointedly and glanced at Jon. “But still. It’s much worse when I find things out later rather than sooner.”

Sansa licked her dry lips and looked at Jon who made his way over to her side and grabbed her hand. They both looked at Benjen and Sansa tried to find the right words…

Benjen looked at their joined hands and the looks on their faces and he stepped back, looking worried. “What? What is it?”

“There was something they found in the trash when they went through it, Benjen,” Jon said. 

“What?” Benjen asked, a note of panic in his voice. 

“A pregnancy test,” Sansa said. “Benjen, honey, I’m pregnant.”

Benjen’s jaw went slack. Then he burst out with, “But you’re old!”

Now it was Sansa’s turn to just stand there and gape. Had her son really just said that? 

Jon stepped forward. “Your mother is not old, Benjen,” he said tightly. He was reigning his temper in; Sansa could tell. “She’s still a young and vivacious woman—”

Benjen held up his hand. “Please, don’t, just don’t. I don’t need to hear about my mother’s attributes from her eighteen-year-old baby daddy.”

Sansa heard the door open behind them and she found Robb closing the door behind him. He looked at her and nodded his hello. “So, you’ve told him,” he said. 

“You knew, Uncle Robb?” Benjen asked. 

“I found out yesterday,” Robb said. 

“How long have you known, Mom?” Benjen demanded. 

“Not long,” Sansa replied. “A little over a week.”

Benjen looked at Jon and glared at him. “What the fuck, man? It wasn’t enough to fuck her, but now you had to go and get her pregnant?”

“Don’t talk about your mother like that,” Jon snapped. 

“I have to agree with Jon on this one,” Robb said. “Benjen, whaddya say we go for a ride or something?”

Benjen shook his head and turned around. He threw up his hands and shouted, “MOTHER FUCKER!” at the top of his lungs and then stormed off to his bedroom and slammed the door shut. Sansa winced and felt the tears start to come. She wanted to go after him, and yet she knew she was not what he wanted. Rooted to the spot, she looked to Jon for help. 

He gathered her up in his arms and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, baby. He just needs some time to process.”

“He’ll calm down, San,” Robb said encouragingly. 

“I am the worst mother in the world,” Sansa said tearfully. 

“Hardly,” Robb said. “You’ve met Cersei, right? Her fucking asshole of a son was murdered by some other asshole he probably pissed off.”

“We shouldn’t speak ill of the dead,” Sansa said and pushed out of Jon’s arms.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Robb said incredulously. “I had to sit through bullshit speeches this afternoon about how kind Joffrey was. Kind, Sansa. The prick who _hit_ you, verbally abused you, cheated on you, tried to _choke_ you, hit his _son_ – don’t tell me I can’t speak ill of the dead. They made him sound like the pillar of society today and it took everything in me not to throw up right in the aisle. I can tell you I wasn’t the only one looking a little green by that shit, too.”

They all heard Benjen’s door open and he came back in the living room, changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. “Can we get something to eat, Uncle Robb?”

“Of course,” Robb said. “The Gentlemen’s Club has a really great buffet on the weekend.”

“Robb, you’re not taking him to see strippers!” Sansa exclaimed. 

“I’m teasing, Sansa. I’m not going to take him to a titty bar. God!” But then he winked at Benjen who cracked a small smile. 

Sansa looked at her brother warily and then looked at Benjen. “Are you coming home tonight, baby?”

“Maybe,” he muttered and then looked at his uncle. “Can we go now?”

Robb nodded and gestured for Benjen to go on ahead. Benjen hurried out the door. 

“Scout’s honor I will take good care of him,” Robb said. 

Sansa rubbed her forehead and sighed. “That’s the Vulcan sign from Stark Trek, Robb.”

“Oh, shit. I always get that one fucked up. Well, anyway.” He grinned. “I’ll bring him back in one piece.”

“That would be great, thanks,” Sansa monotoned. 

Once Robb had left, Jon slid his hand down Sansa’s arm and gripped her hand. “What can I do, sweetheart?”

“Can you make me unpregnant for a few hours so I can get totally shitfaced?”

“No, I can’t do that,” he said with a little smile. 

“Can you turn back time to the beginning of all this so that I can do everything right?”

“And what do you exactly mean by doing everything right?” Jon asked, a warning in his voice. His grip on her hand tightened. 

She looked at him and tugged on his hand. He took the hint and came closer and she wound her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “If I had a chance to go back to the beginning, I would have went public when you wanted to.”

“Is this the part where I get to say ‘I told you so’?” he asked lightly. 

“No, honey, you never get to say that to me.”

He chuckled. “But you get to say it to me?”

“Of course.”

He laughed softly. “Got it. But you know…it was going to be hard no matter what, Sansa,” he said and ran his hand down her hair soothingly. “The difference between then and now is that a lot of shit hit the fan at once. All telling him sooner would have done was buy us some more time. None of us could have predicted that Joffrey was going to get himself murdered.”

She sighed. “No, I suppose not.”

“Listen, do you want me to go to my mother’s tonight in case Benjen comes back?”

She pulled back a bit to look at him, wearing a pained expression. “God, how am I going to tell him you’ve moved in?”

“How about you let me deal with that?”

She furrowed her brows and looked at him uncertainly. “How are you going to deal with that exactly? What are you going to say?”

“I’m going to appeal to the part of him that is no doubt worried about you.”

She snorted. “Worried about me? You think he’s _worried_ about me?”

“I think when he gets over the shock he will be.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m his – or was his best friend. He knows me as the kid he TP’d a house with once. The kid who dropped a smoke bomb in the boy’s bathroom after gym.”

Sansa dropped her head down. “Jesus, Jon.”

“I wasn’t always this super mature and responsible eighteen-year-old you see before you today.”

Sansa started to laugh and Jon frowned though his eyes were twinkling with humor. “I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that you’re laughing about that,” he said. 

She hit him playfully on the shoulder. “I don’t want to be laughing right now. I want to be wallowing in misery over what a terrible mother I am.”

He laughed now and drew her back in his embrace. “You’re not a terrible mother. Just let me talk to him. He’s gonna want the assurance that I’m not gonna bail on you.”

“You better not,” she murmured. 

“Never, sweet girl,” he said softly and said into her hair at the side of her head. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Forever and ever…”

“Can you not say that like the creepy twins from The Shining?”

She giggled and pulled back again to look up at him.

“Let me take care of you, baby,” he said and pressed a quick to her mouth. “We’ll put on _When Harry Met Sally_ and get a pizza and make sundaes after. What do you think?”

She smiled. “I think that sounds like heaven.”

“Just you wait. I’m going to take care of you so good, San, you’re never going to want to let me go.”

She smiled. “I already don’t, baby.”

xxxxxxxxxx

It was almost nine when Sansa’s phone rang. She and Jon were watching another movie, _Fatal Attraction_ , and she lunged to grab her phone off the nightstand. 

“Robb,” she announced when Jon paused the movie. “Hello?”

“Heyyyy,” her brother said. 

Sansa narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on? What’s wrong? You sound funny.”

“Can you put Jon on the phone?” Robb asked. 

“Why?”

“San, please?”

“Is my son okay?”

“He’s fine, Sansa.”

“What is he doing?”

“San.”

She sighed and handed the phone over to Jon. “Robb wants to talk to you.”

Jon’s brow furrowed and he shrugged as he took the phone and stood up, heading into the kitchen. “Hello?”

“Okay, so I didn’t want to tell Sansa this, because I knew she’d freak out, but Benjen is going to stay the night. I, um, I let him drink a little.”

Jon stopped in the middle of the kitchen. “What?”

“He’s drunk.”

“How did we go from you let him drink a little to he’s drunk?”

“A little turned into a lot. Listen, he’s here at my place and he’s not going anywhere. I cut him off before he could get sick and he’s gonna sleep it off. I know he goes to college parties and gets shitfaced there, so at least he’s with an adult. Well, I mean, I know Sansa will think that’s questionable, but I am older than her. He needed to blow off steam. I’ve been in bad situations where all I want to do is get completely drunk and not worry or think about shit for a while. Tomorrow he’ll be too focused on being hungover to think about his father being dead and his mom being pregnant.”

Jon could actually understand that. Hadn’t Sansa expressed wanting to get drunk earlier too? “So you want me to break this to her is what you’re saying?”

“Could you?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” And he found himself smiling. Smiling because it was like he was part of their family now. It was easy for him to imagine his daughter calling to tell him something she wanted him to break to her Mom. 

Jon’s smile fell. Granted, those things had better be within reason if she ever thought to leave the house again. It was one thing for Benjen to get drunk with his Uncle Robb, Jon wasn’t his father and they were the same age. Quite another for his actual kid to do it. 

“Just make sure he gets water and ibuprofen,” Jon said. 

“Aww, listen to you, being all worried for your stepson.”

Jon sighed. “Robb…”

He heard Robb laughing and then nothing. 

Going back into the living room, he found Sansa looking at him expectantly. She had her legs crossed and her foot wiggling up and down. “Well?” she prompted. 

Jon sat down. “Well, sweetheart, remember earlier when Benjen left…”


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, folks, we're wrapping this up! One more chapter after this one!  
> Thank you to kittykatknits, Jeaneattesc and vivlove for their help!

On the day Jon and Sansa were questioned (with their attorney’s present), Olenna Tyrell was arrested for a plot to kill Joffrey Lannister. 

And, since both Sansa’s and Jon’s alibi’s checked out, they were let go. 

Jon, true to his word, did have that chat with Benjen he’d told Sansa he would have. One afternoon, before Benjen returned to school, Jon asked him if they could get a pizza or something together. 

At first, Benjen had been reluctant. He hadn’t been all that keen on the idea of Jon hanging around the house to begin with, but in the end he agreed, saying that he needed to get some things off his chest. 

Jon braced himself for it, and suggested perhaps they go to the park where they could really talk. So, they got a pizza and went to the park. They sat down together on a bench away from others, and after just a bite, Benjen let it fly. 

“I don’t think you understand just how much I feel betrayed by you,” he said. “I feel like you used me to get close to my mother.”

“Benjen, I was friends with you long before I met your mother,” Jon reminded him calmly. 

“But after? All those times you wanted to come to my house?”

Jon sighed. “Okay, yeah, it’s true, I did want to see your mom. I was falling in love with her and wanted to be near her. But never, not once, did I not think of you as my best friend. I know this sounds weird, but it was just separate in my mind. Sansa was one thing to me, and you were another.”

“Yeah, you’ve always been great at compartmentalizing, but she’s my Mom, Jon.”

“I know, I know, and I’m – I’m sorry, Benjen. I really am. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you didn’t matter or that I was using you. That wasn’t my intention and that wasn’t what I was thinking.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner what was going on?” Benjen asked softly, plucking a piece of pepperoni off his slice of pizza. 

“I guess I didn’t know how to. And I was afraid you’d tell me to back off. I wanted first to convince your Mom to give me a chance, and that was hard enough in itself. I wanted to go public long before she did, and I know at that point she saw it as something that was going to end at any minute.”

“And you didn’t think that,” Benjen said and stuffed the piece of pepperoni in his mouth. 

“No, I didn’t. I knew she loved me. I just had to get her to admit it. She’s stubborn as fuck, your Mom.”

“Don’t I know it,” Benjen muttered. 

“Benjen, I love your Mom. She’s…everything.”

“How do you know though, Jon? How do you know you’re going to keep loving her like this? How do you know that it’s not just because you’re in love for the first time and you’ll find someone else?”

Jon shot him a look. “Now you sound like her.”

“Well? I mean, you do realize it’s a valid question.”

“I just know, Benjen. I can’t explain how I know that your Mom is it for me, I just know. I feel it in my heart and right down to my bones. I’d do anything for her.”

“I hope to God you mean that, Jon, because she’s fucking pregnant and I don’t want her abandoned. She did the single Mom thing already. I don’t want that for her.”

“Never. My Dad abandoned me, remember? I wouldn’t leave my child. And I wouldn’t leave Sansa to raise my kid alone. Benjen, I’m in this for the long haul. Do you understand what that means for me?”

Benjen sighed and put his plate with the half-eaten pizza on the bench next to him. “You want to marry her.”

“Yes.”

“This is such a fucked up situation. You’re going to be a freshman in college, married, and with a kid.”

“I’m sure I won’t be the only one with a kid, but probably the only one married.”

“So, I know this is probably a stupid question, but that means you’re moving in, doesn’t it?”

Jon nodded. 

Benjen sighed again. “Look, I’m not going to say that I’m okay with any of this. That we’ll just go back to being best friends like you’re not with my Mom, and you are definitely not allowed to father me, but….”

“But?”

“I don’t know. I just know that I need my Mom right now. I’m down a parent, though he wasn’t a very good one, and my Mom has always been there for me. She was the one who raised me. Everything’s that happened with my Dad…it’s fucked me up and I need her.”

“Could you tell her that? Because I think she would love to hear it. In fact, she needs to hear it, Benjen.”

“I will,” Benjen mumbled. “But I do want you to know that you still suck ass.”

“Yeah, I know. And I am sorry for what it’s worth.”

Benjen didn’t say much after that, and Jon didn’t expect him to. They sat in silence, eating their pizza, and when they were done, they went home. Jon gave Benjen and Sansa the space they needed by going home to his Mom, and it felt, for now, that things were finally going in the right direction. 

xxxxxxxxxx

The dust had settled. Or at least, it was settling. Joffrey’s actual killer had yet to be found, and Benjen was back at school, getting ready for finals, and seeing a therapist. He was also coming home every other weekend and though Jon was now fully moved in (though Jon would say he had been prior to this already), Benjen seemed better about Jon being there. 

Especially after Sansa had her first ultrasound and came home with pictures. That seemed to be somewhat of a turning point for Jon and Benjen. 

As for Jon, she didn’t think Jon’s feet touched the ground for days after that. He’d even had tears in his eyes when he heard their baby’s heartbeat. 

It became routine that every night Jon would tell the baby good night, say “Daddy loves you, little one”, and then kiss Sansa’s belly. In the morning, he would do it again, only with good morning. 

He checked up on her constantly and Sansa kept having to reassure him she was pregnant, not dying. Her morning sickness wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either, and only a few times did she have to tell Jon to get the hell away from her with whatever he was eating that grossed her out. 

So of course now that things were going a bit better, Sansa sought to shake things up. And it took some doing, too. 

She wanted the final piece to the puzzle accounted for: she wanted to marry Jon. 

That meant talking to her mother and Robb about a courthouse wedding – in which Robb not only said he would give her away, but he also hooked her up with the right people to get it all done. Her other siblings, off in different parts of the country, promised to come home if she had a belated reception. That was definitely part of the plan. 

This also meant that she had to talk to Jon’s mother and ask her permission and for her attendance at the wedding. 

Lyanna still had her reservations about them, which Sansa could not fault her for, and after a long conversation, Lyanna agreed to be there and to even help Sansa surprise Jon. 

“You do realize that you are robbing yourself of an epic proposal by doing this, right?” Lyanna asked her. 

Sansa smiled. “I do know, but Jon has always been the more romantic of the two of us and the one that’s been so incredibly certain of the life he wants with me. I want to give him this surprise and show him that I want that life, too.”

And so, one chilly day in early December, Sansa asked Jon if they could spend some time together after his classes let out mid-morning. He readily agreed, and when he got home, before he could tempt her into bed with his passionate kisses, she asked that they change into something nice because she wanted to go out for a ritzy lunch. 

He found it a bit odd and made a comment about her being his “Sugar Momma” to which she made him swore never to say _that_ again. He changed into black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a matching black suit coat. Sansa wore a simple white dress that had a sheer and lacy overlay. It was modest, in that it showed no cleavage, and it was definitely elegant. 

Jon whistled when he saw her, and again wanted to attempt to have _her_ for lunch, but Sansa pushed him out the door, giggling and nervous and yet so very excited. 

She was shaking by the time she pulled into the courthouse, and when she looked over at Jon to gauge his reaction, she found him confused. Until he saw his mother, Benjen, Robb, Jeyne, and Catelyn standing outside, all dressed up. His mother held the bridal bouquet. 

“Sansa,” he said hoarsely as she parked and cut the engine. 

She turned in her seat and looked at him. Reaching out, she took his hands in hers and kissed his knuckles. “Jon, I love you so much. You, this baby, Benjen…you’re my family. My entire world. I know I’ve had my doubts about us, but I don’t have them anymore. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, Jon Snow, will you marry me today?”

He lunged across the seat, gathered her up in his arms, and held her tightly against him. “My God, baby girl…” he gasped. “I love you, I love you so much. I always have and I always will.”

“Is that a yes?”

He pulled back to look at her, tears in his gray eyes. “Yes, _fuck_ yes. I’ve been yours since the moment I saw you, Sansa.” He cupped her face in his hands. “You’re going to be my wife,” he said with no small amount of wonder in his voice and in his expression. “ _Finally_.”

She laughed through happy tears. “Only you would say ‘finally’ after just over six months of dating.”

“Baby, I was ready to marry you a long time ago,” he said and kissed her. 

“I know, love,” she said and kissed him. 

A rap on the door had them both looking over to the driver’s side window. Robb stood there motioning for Sansa to roll the window down. 

“You gonna come inside and do this? I’m freezing my nuts off out here,” he said once she’d rolled her window down. 

“Why didn’t you all just go inside like any normal person would?” Sansa asked him. 

“We were going for romance movie aesthetic here, San. Let’s go.”

Sansa rolled up her window and looked at Jon. “Ready to get married?”

He beamed at her. “You have no idea, San.”

She had _some_ idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansa's wedding dress: 
> 
>  
> 
> [](https://imgur.com/OJt6O8m)  
> 


	42. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I couldn't wait to finish this lol. And while I was feeling inspired, I figured why not. 
> 
> Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that read, read and reviewed, and stayed with this story. It's been quite a journey and I love you all so much!
> 
> Special thanks to Jeanettesc, kittykatknits, and vivilove for all their help. You guys are the best! 
> 
> I do want to do one-shots in this universe. So, if you have anything you want to see, feel free to message me on Tumblr or on here. Thanks!!

**One Year Later**

 

“That was my Mom,” Sansa said as she entered the living room where Jon was holding their daughter, Tess, on his lap and shaking a rattle that Tess was trying valiantly to grab. 

“What did the formidable Catelyn Stark have to say?” Jon asked as he looked up at his wife. _His wife._ A year later and he still couldn’t believe she was his. All his. They shared the same bed every night, ate at the same table every day. His car was next to hers in the driveway. They’d bought all of Tess’s things together, changing Sansa’s office into Tess’s bedroom, and currently they were working on finishing the basement so Sansa could have a home office again. 

Jon was still going to go school and he was still working at the coffee shop. He paid his own bills, which pretty much amounted to his car insurance and phone, and then pitched in everywhere else when it came to groceries, diapers and food for Tess, the cable bill – he was determined to help Sansa as much as he could. Over the summer he worked more hours and was able to help out more. 

“She wants me to help her with putting out the centerpieces,” Sansa said as she came over and sat down next to him. She caressed the side of Tess’s face, who looked like a mix of both of them with Jon’s inky black curls (no wonder she’d had so much heartburn during her pregnancy), and her blue eyes. Though Sansa knew her daughter might not always have her blue eyes. She rather hoped she kept them though, and she knew Jon did too. Jon had been hoping from the moment it was confirmed that they were having a girl that Tess would have red hair like Sansa. 

Benjen had dug out his high school biology book at that point and opened up the chapter on genes. Jon had refused to listen. 

Jon frowned as he looked over at his wife. ( _His wife_. Would that ever get old?) “She does realize the party starts in an hour and since it’s our very belated reception and first anniversary, you should be here with me and our daughter getting ready?”

“I will be. It won’t take me long. Besides, it’s understood that we’ll be a little late.”

Jon’s brows lifted and his expression turned hopeful. “Really? How late?”

Sansa laughed. “Forget it. I know exactly what you’re thinking. We don’t have enough time for that.”

“Come on. You have to change, I have to change… we get undressed together and we’re already halfway there.”

She laughed again. “Tonight. After little one is asleep.”

Jon sighed. “All right.”

She leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek and then got up. “I’ll be back.”

“Uh…San?”

She looked down at him. “Yeah?”

“You forget something?”

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him. He attempted to deepen it, and Sansa broke away, laughing. 

He smirked. “I love you, Mrs. Snow.”

“I love you, Mr. Snow,” she sing-songed, and after grabbing her purse near the door, she was off. 

Smiling, Jon got up to change his daughter and carried her against his chest into her room. He laid her down on the changing table and proceeded to undo her onesie. “Do you have any idea how much I love you, little one?” he cooed at his daughter who gurgled at him. 

He smiled and quickly cleaned her up and changed her diaper. After dumping her wet diaper in the diaper genie, he picked his daughter up and held her against his chest. “I fell in love with your Mom as soon as I saw her, little one. Your Mom is easy to love.” Jon carried her into the living room and settled back down on the couch with her. 

“It was hard work getting her to admit she loved me, and then getting her to trust that I’d never leave her.” He tickled his daughter’s feet and she kicked her feet and squealed. Jon laughed softly, thinking that he had never really gotten over the high he felt when Sansa had given birth to Tess. He’d been with her the whole time even when she told him to shut up and get the hell out. 

He’d been involved in every aspect of Sansa’s pregnancy, even convincing her to take a Lamaze class so he could learn what he had to do as her coach. 

“But I would never leave her,” Jon murmured. “Or you. The both of you are my entire world.” He sighed. “It wasn’t easy there for a while. Your Grandma Stark was difficult. Your Grandma Snow had her moments. And your big brother Benjen wasn’t very happy with Daddy.”

Tess giggled and Jon smiled. He and Benjen were in a better place now, though they had never quite got their friendship back. Now, Benjen enjoyed teasing him because his mother was dating Robb. The day he and Sansa had gotten married, they’d gone out to dinner with everyone to celebrate and Jon had caught Robb kissing his mother outside the restaurant. 

He had been shocked by it, and worried – Jeyne and Robb hadn’t worked out after all, and Sansa had told him once that her brother had commitment issues. His mother had told him he had no room to talk about anything she did considering all _he’d_ done, and Jon backed off after just telling her to be careful. 

It turned out that Robb and Jeyne just hadn’t been meant to be. A year later and Robb and his Mom were still dating and she was the happiest Jon had ever seen her. Jeyne, for her part, was dating some nice doctor that Jon found boring, but Jeyne gushed over. 

But still, Jon didn’t want to think too much about confusing family dynamics if Robb and his mother got married…

“Benjen loves you though,” Jon told his daughter. He sighed, thinking of how hard things had been there for a while for Benjen – for all of them – when he and Sansa had gone public. And then, of course, with Joffrey. 

“Daddy would do anything to protect you, to protect your mother, and to protect Benjen. Mommy doesn’t even know what I’ve done to protect her…”

It hadn’t been that hard to kill Joffrey. He’d planned every step carefully and executed the murder without any snags. He’d even managed to convince Ygritte and Val that he’d been at that party the whole time when he hadn’t been. He’d been there at the beginning and when everyone had been good and drunk, he’d left. When making them his alibis, he’d made sure to “remind” them that he’d been there the whole time. 

“I am sorry it hurt Benjen,” Jon murmured to Tess, who now gripped his thumb and attempted to suck on it. “But I did what I had to do to protect him and your mother. There was no way he was going to get away with hurting them like that.”

Truth was, he’d started plotting Joffrey’s murder after Joffrey had choked Sansa. When he’d hit Benjen, that had sealed the prick’s fate. 

Benjen was doing better now anyway despite the fact that no one had ever been convicted for his father's murder. He was getting good grades in school, he was dating, and he was hoping to live with some friends on campus the next semester. 

Jon heard the sound of a car door close and he grinned. “Mommy’s home. That means you are going to go in your swing for a bit, little girl.” 

He got up and crossed the room to where Tess’s swing was and was just finishing buckling her up and getting the swing cranked when Sansa came in. She smiled. “See? Didn’t take long.”

Jon reached out and snagged a belt loop on her jeans and dragged her to him. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her soundly. “We have plenty of time,” he murmured. 

She laughed softly. “Yeah…I suppose we do after all.”

Scooping her up in his arms, Jon carried her to their bedroom, intent on starting the festivities that night by making love to his wife.


End file.
